David R.

04/05/19

I am struggling with the sometimes conflicting uses of 先?

Rikaisama's definition of 先 includes meanings like *previous; prior; former; some time ago*. However it also includes meanings such as *front; ahead; the future; destination*. I am struggling to... more

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Grammar Japanese Particle な

04/05/19

な directly after a noun (not a な-adjective)?

While reading a grammar book, I read the following explanation of な >**な** ***na,*** **a masculine** ***ne*** > Both sexes use *ne*, but male speakers often use *na* instead. There are... more

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Grammar Japanese Particle より

04/05/19

Distinguishing between 'on' and 'above'?

> 世界のルールで、島は水**より上に**出ていなければならないと決まっています。 > World rules determine that an island must stick out above the water. In this sentence 水より上 clearly means 'above the water', but when I look in... more

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Grammar Japanese Negation

03/29/19

して行｛い｝かない versus しないで行｛い｝く?

Do they have the same meaning? > A: 宿｛しゅく｝題｛だい｝を**して行｛い｝かない**生｛せい｝徒｛と｝が多｛おお｝いです。 > B: 宿｛しゅく｝題｛だい｝を**しないで行｛い｝く**生｛せい｝徒｛と｝が多｛おお｝いです。

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Grammar Japanese Clause Pattern

03/29/19

Can 「XければXほどY」 clause pattern be shortened to 「XほどY」?

There is a clause pattern 「XければXほどY」. For example, 「近【ちか】ければ近【ちか】いほど便【べん】利【り】」 which means something like "the nearer it is, the more convenient it will be". Can I shorten the clause to... more

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Grammar Japanese

03/29/19

Meaning of 増える in this sentence?

In the following sentence: > 魚は三匹に増えていた。 I don't know whether to interpret に as **to** or **by**. So if I start with one fish then: > The number of fish increased **to** three (there are... more

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Grammar Japanese Synonyms

03/29/19

What's the difference between くる and やってくる?

Can someone explain the nuance between them? They both mean "come", but I'm unsure of when they are interchangeable. My perception is that `やってくる` seems to put more emphasis on the actual action of... more

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Grammar Japanese Negation

03/29/19

ないで vs なくて: combining phrases with negative verbs?

Can you use 〜なくて instead of 〜ないで in the following sentence without changing the meaning? > 病気になると、一切化学薬品や抗生物質を使わ**ないで**、鍼や指圧や漢方薬で直します。風邪の時は何もしないで暖かくして、寝ているだけです。 In general, what's the... more

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Grammar Japanese Kanji

03/29/19

Meaning of 然 in conjunctions and other grammatical words?

Here are a few grammatical words that use 然 according to jisho.org: > * 然し（しかし） * however; but * 然して（そして） * and; and then; thus; and now; and finally * 然うして（そうして） * and; like that *... more

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Grammar Japanese Conjugations

03/28/19

Conjugated word + んだ vs nonconjugated word + conjugated んだ?

Suppose I have a verb/adjective/noun, let's say 無理, and I add (な)んだ to it as an explanatory sentence-ending particle. What would be the difference in nuance between the following two conjugated... more

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Grammar Japanese

03/27/19

Using により to specify method?

Here are two examples: > [電話]{でんわ}による[通報]{つうほう} // Fine > 電話により通報する // Okay? I feel like using `により` is strange in my second example, but I'm not sure. Is the second example perfectly fine... more

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Grammar Japanese

03/27/19

Is a palindrome a thing?

A palindrome is a word or phrase that is the same backwards and forwards, such as "Bob", "aibohphobia" or "A man, a plan, a canal: Panama." In English, as well as many other languages, this is a... more

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Grammar Japanese 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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Grammar Japanese 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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Grammar Japanese Word Choice

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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Grammar Japanese Particle の

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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Grammar Japanese 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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Grammar Japanese Synonyms

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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Grammar Japanese Nominalization

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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Grammar Japanese Colloquial Language

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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Grammar Japanese Verbs

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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Grammar Japanese Meaning

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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Grammar Japanese Word Choice

03/19/19

Difference between -ていく and -てくる?

Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference... more

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Grammar Japanese Particles

03/19/19

How does ほど work in the 〜すれば〜するほど construction?

I understand that 〜すれば〜するほど is used to mean "the more you do ~ the more ~". However, I don't see how this meaning is derived from this sentence pattern. I assume the ば is from the conditional... more

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Grammar Japanese Conjunctions

03/19/19

What are the various ways to express 'or' and when are they appropriate?

I'd like to get an idea of when it is appropriate to use different expressions for expressing disjunction (of the inclusive AND exclusive variety). 「AとBとCの中で...」、「どちら」、and 「か] come to mind, but I... more

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I am struggling with the sometimes conflicting uses of 先?

な directly after a noun (not a な-adjective)?