Datasets:

---

p1atdev

/

japanese-stackexchange

like 3

[ { "body": "From what I've seen in even the easier-to-read newspapers and heard in various\nshows, it is allowable to stack adjectives like that. Although, the case may\nbe that they are more colloquial.\n\nAlso, there are two ways to go about I-adjectives:\n\n 1. あそこの面白い、背が高い人は誰？\n 2. あそこの面白く、背が高い人は誰？\n\nThe second case is a mid form of ～くて and is frequently found in writing.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T15:33:32.997", "id": "13844", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T15:33:32.997", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4378", "parent_id": "13843", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Can they stack? Yes.\n\n頭がよくて、綺麗な彼女が欲しい。 綺麗な、頭がいい彼氏が欲しい。\n\nBut the more you stack, the heavier the sentence goes. Don't hesitate to break\nthe sentence if you reach three.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T23:26:02.257", "id": "13853", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T23:26:02.257", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "356", "parent_id": "13843", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "No, it cannot be used for just any kind of food and the word can be used for\nadults, too.\n\n買い食い, despite its pretty straightforward look \"buy and eat\", carries a fairly\nnegative connotation for us native speakers. Moms hate it if kids do it often\n(because they do not get to know what the kids are eating). The word is never\nused to describe buying a \"serious\" or \"full-size\" meal. It is all about\nbuying snacks to eat between meals. Takoyaki, mentioned by OP, is a prime\nexample.\n\nWhile it is true that mostly kids do the 買い食い, it is absolutely Ok to use the\nword for adults when they buy and eat snacks. Adults may use the word in self-\ndeprecation when they do the 買い食い themselves and use it kiddingly when other\nadults do it.\n\nFinally, the word is NOT used when you buy a snack and bring it home to eat\nit. You need to eat it near where you bought it to call it 買い食い, which is why\nmoms hate it.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T22:57:26.133", "id": "13850", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T22:57:26.133", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13845", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "I think this image sums it up perfectly:\n\n\n\nBasically, it has to do with the angle you're draw it from and where it goes.\nYou'll see variations on the bigger stroke on the right, especially in hand\nwriting, but this clears up 99% of instances for me.\n\nEdit: source=<http://ani-nouto.animeblogger.net/2012/08/11/guide-to-katakana-\nri-so-n/>", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T20:56:28.823", "id": "13847", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T21:01:46.797", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-23T21:01:46.797", "last_editor_user_id": "165", "owner_user_id": "165", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 52 }, { "body": "It's easy once you get the difference between シ (shi) and ツ (tsu) For these,\nit's easy to remember because of how the hiragana versions are written.\n\nし is written from the top, to bottom, to right. And thus, the katakana version\nis written left to right, and has a more horizontal angle.\n\nつ is written curving down, so ツ is also written top-to-bottom, being more\nvertically oriented.\n\nThe same thing goes for ソ and ン, except without the hiragana equivalents.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T22:22:06.867", "id": "13848", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T22:22:06.867", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4378", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Japanese is to complicated at times: keep the explanation simple:\n\nHere is my mnemonic ソthe line points 'south' for 'so' ンthe line points 'north'\nfor 'n'\n\nLike it?", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T02:45:07.917", "id": "13885", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-26T02:45:07.917", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4390", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 19 }, { "body": "I do not know why my answer is so often different from others' on here but to\nme the best answer is \"CONTEXT\".\n\nHow useful is it that the two katakana look different in printed blocks? That\nkind of \"knowledge\" is not worth a yen when dealing with handwriting or even\nsomething printed. You are NOT going to see a ソ or ン blown-up all out of\nproportion so you could spot the difference.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T05:43:00.920", "id": "13887", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-26T05:43:00.920", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "shi and n have the small line more horizontal, while so and tsu have them\nleaning more vertically. It is the best I can come up with.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2017-11-12T09:29:36.470", "id": "54425", "last_activity_date": "2017-11-12T09:29:36.470", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "26455", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "Yes they are similar and yes they are distinguishable by two differences:\n\nThe stroke order can be seen in many fonts and the strokes are opposite for\nthese two katakana.\n\nN: bottom to top / So: top to bottom /\n\nAlso\n\nN: flatter S: more vertical", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2018-01-28T14:56:22.803", "id": "56254", "last_activity_date": "2018-01-28T14:56:22.803", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "27483", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "You need to be careful on the start point and stroke inclination as you can\nsee on the image above\n\n[](https://i.stack.imgur.com/016B5.jpg)\n\n・ソ so\n\n・リ ri\n\n・ン n\n\nBtw, Marilyn Manson is written in Japanese katakana character as マリリン マンソン.\n\nマソソソ マソソソ❌\n\nマリリリ マリリリ❌\n\nマンンン マンンン❌\n\nマリリン マンソン✅\n\nsource [Twitter\n@ukotius](https://twitter.com/ukotius/status/954824876744876032)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2018-01-30T08:16:01.237", "id": "56298", "last_activity_date": "2018-01-30T08:16:01.237", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "22344", "parent_id": "13846", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "`一人にする` means \"leave (smb.) alone\". So `一人にせず` could mean \"without leaving\nalone\" or \"not remaining alone\".\n\nTo suggest a good translation for your quote we need more context.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-23T23:48:35.103", "id": "13854", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-23T23:48:35.103", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3295", "parent_id": "13849", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "The sentence makes perfect sense.\n\nStructure: \"I have thought about a method that would achieve \"Primary Goal\"\nwhile satisfying \"Condition/Prerequisite\".\"\n\nPrimary Goal = お前に少しの罰を与える = \"giving you a little punishment\"\n\nCondition/Prerequisite = お前も私も一人にせず = \"without having to leave you or myself\nalone\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T00:57:37.997", "id": "13855", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T00:57:37.997", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13849", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "So I couldn't find an authoritative source, but given there haven't been an\nanswer, I'll add my guess.\n\nMy guess is that it's related to the use in 木目(wood pattern)、籠目(lattice\npattern) etc. The commonality is here that 目 refers to how things look like\n(to the eye). 分け目 probably refers to the virtual \"pattern\" that emerges\nbecause of the distinction.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T08:03:07.977", "id": "13888", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-26T08:03:07.977", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "13852", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Yamato-go had simple words with broad semantics, of which め is one. It is now\ndistinguished in written form as 目 or 芽 (don't know about 女 or 雌), but we\nshould remember that these characters are in many cases a kind of ate-ji\nhiding the commonality of the underlying original lexical item.\n\nMy sense is that the intrinsic meaning of め is something along the lines of\n\"point\", or \"defining point\". The eye may be considered the defining point of\na human. A bud can be considered the defining point of a plant. The め in 5つ目\n(which can also be written 5つめ) also has this delineative meaning (\"the\n_point_ of the fifth one\", \"the one _defined_ by being at the fifth _point_\n\").\n\nIn this perspective, the use of め in 境目 or 分かれ目 is quite natural: it refers to\nthe _point_ or threshold defining the boundary between two areas, or the\n_point_ defining where two roads diverge.\n\nWe should also remember the expression ひどい目にあう. What is the 目 (interestingly,\nalso sometimes written め) here? Well, it's just a _point_ --in other words,\n\"encountering a horrible point (or situation).\"\n\nFinally, we have the め used with adjectives such as 軽め. Again, \"lightness to a\ncertain _point_ \", \"a _point_ of [some] lightness\".\n\nIt is also possible that め had three distinct meanings: (1) eye (2) bud and\n(3) point, and that the character 目 used for (1) ended up by analogy sometimes\nbeing used for (3) as well.\n\nThe above has no scholarly background whatsoever, just my thoughts.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T16:54:05.620", "id": "13912", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-27T17:19:34.723", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-27T17:19:34.723", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13852", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "You wouldn't use \"どうか\" standing by itself. Added to a request (like てください), I\nthink it adds a nuance of a strong request/entirety/petition.\n\nどうか許{ゆる}してください - please forgive me\n\nどうか、息子{むすこ}を - please (help/save/look after) my son (sentence with verb\ndropped)\n\nBy comparison, どうぞ can be used in an invitation/offering sort of sense (please\nhave a seat/please help yourself), whereas どうか cannot.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T12:00:23.623", "id": "13858", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T12:00:23.623", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "571", "parent_id": "13856", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "This was exactly my homework back in 7th or 8th grade (in junior high school\nin Japan)!\n\nBasically it is Abstract/Intangible vs. Concrete/Tangible.\n\nThe Abstract/Intangible things [表]{あらわ}れる. Those include emotions, feelings,\nresults of efforts such as grades, etc. becoming visible.\n\nThe Concrete/Tangible things [現]{あらわ}れる. These are things like humans,\nanimals, monsters, clouds, etc. appearing from somewhere.\n\n表す and 現す are basically the transitive versions of the intransitive 表れる and\n現れる.\n\nYou can 表す (= to display, reveal, etc.) things like your emotions on your\nface, your ideas in art forms, your opinions through your actions, etc.\n\n現す means \"(concrete things) showing themslves\" such as the stars at night,\nvisible symptoms on your body, your hidden talents, etc.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T09:29:23.887", "id": "13877", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T09:29:23.887", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13857", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "せいで/おかげで can only be used with nouns, after の. The difference between your\nnumber 2 and number 3 is that in number 3 it's a noun (私) that's the reason,\nbut in number 2 it's a verb ([誰も]手伝ってくれない).\n\nThe converse is that から/ので/ために can't be used with nouns to express reason -\nthey can only be used with verbs. (ために can be used after nouns, but then it's\npurpose rather than reason.)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T15:40:32.950", "id": "13862", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T15:40:32.950", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3639", "parent_id": "13860", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "Your book is correct on this if it explained the exceptions.\n\nEven though quite a few of us native speakers DO use せいで to express reasons,\nit is certainly not a recommendable use of the word in many cases. This is\nbecause if you use it to express a reason, you will sound like you are blaming\nsomeone/something in a harsh way instead of objectively analyzing the reason\nfor something. It could make you sound unnecessarily upset or, in some cases,\nas if you were cursing.\n\nRegarding your sentence 「私のせいで[作業]{さぎょう}が[遅]{おく}れてしまった。」, it is no problem to\nsay it because it is yourself, not another person, that you are blaming for\nthe delay.\n\nExamples where one should avoid using せいで :\n\n「[雨]{あめ}が[降]{ふ}ったせいでピクニックに[行]{い}けなかった。」\n\n「[鉛筆]{えんぴつ}が[短]{みじか}くなったせいで[宿題]{しゅくだい}ができなかった。」\n\n「[日曜日]{にちようび}のせいで[公園]{こうえん}に人がたくさんいた。」", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T22:03:18.700", "id": "13869", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T22:03:18.700", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13860", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "In meaning, there is no difference and to say otherwise is nitpicking. They\nboth mean \"gradually\", \"step by step\", etc.\n\nAs you said, the difference is in the rank of the word. だんだん is much more\ninformal than [徐々]{じょじょ} (and it does not matter if you write だんだん in kanji as\n段々).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T20:54:14.830", "id": "13868", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T20:54:14.830", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13861", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "まま means something to the effect of 'the way something is', and so そのまま is\n'the way that it/that is', sometimes better as 'the way it/that already is'.\nXをYにする means 'make X Y' (or 'put X at/on/in Y', but not here), but Xをそのままにする\ntranslates better to 'leave/keep X the way it is'.\n\nIt seems like the subject of the sentence is neither men nor women, but _the\nstate of women having to work hard_. You could loosely translate those two\nsentences together into one English sentence as something like this: 'Their\nhard work deserves praise, but I can't say that all women ought to do the\nsame; since that would allow men to continue ignoring the progress of the\ntimes.'", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T19:22:04.060", "id": "13865", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T19:22:04.060", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3639", "parent_id": "13863", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "私が楽にしてやろう！ can mean a few things without further context.\n\nThe meaning that Japanese-learners would be most unfamiliar with is, believe\nit or not, \"I will kill you/him/her.\"\n\nOther meanings include:\n\n\"I will help/make you (or someone) feel better.\"\n\n\"I will cure your desease (or injury).\"\n\nIt all depends on the context. One of the above may or may not apply. If not,\nplease provide more context.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-24T20:27:48.003", "id": "13867", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-24T20:27:48.003", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13866", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "* 何の考えもなく without a thought\n * 足を早めて pick up the pace (lit. hasten/speed up one's feet)\n * 道を歩いて行きました。walked down the street\n\nI think you can take it from there.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T00:14:18.133", "id": "13872", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T00:14:18.133", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4075", "parent_id": "13871", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "私の辞書がありません does NOT mean \"I do not have my dictionary.\" This is a very common\nmistake among J-learners. To us native speakers, it can ONLY mean \"My\ndictionary is missing.\" as in \"I brought my dictionary here but I can't find\nit now. Where did it go?\"\n\nYes, 私は辞書がありません means \"I do not have a dictionary.\"\n\n私の子供がいます does not mean \"The child is mine.\" It is not such a natural-sounding\nsentence but if anyone said it, it would mean \"There is my kid.\"\n\nYes, 私は子供がいます means \"I have a child.\"", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T22:33:27.293", "id": "13884", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T22:33:27.293", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13874", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Nothing is being omitted. As you said yourself, this is not the kind of\nwriting where the author would omit particles. It is not even close to being\nthat type of informal writing.\n\n働きいい means 働きやすい.\n\nThis usage of いい is probably unique to Kanto dialect. It is not used in\nStandard Japanese, where やすい is used; therefore it may not be found in the\ndictionary. I hear this いい in Tokyo but not in Nagoya --- that is for sure.\nAround Tokyo, some people say things like 「このペン書きいいねぇ。= \"This pen writes so\nwell.\"」 while the rest of the country will opt for 「書きやすい」.\n\n夫の働きいいように does NOT mean \"to make the husband's work easy\" as you said. You\nneed to include とりしきる into your TL because that is what 夫の働きいいように modifies.\n\n\"(It was the wife) who managed things so that the husband could concentrate on\nhis work.\"\n\nThe original does not say \"concentrate\" but that is what it means. What it is\nsaying that the wife used to be the one that took care of the kids and the\nhouse so that it would be easy for the husband to work hard (without having to\nworry about the household chores).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T07:33:21.710", "id": "13876", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T07:33:21.710", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13875", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "In this case あたい is being used as a 1st person pronoun meaning \"I.\" So\nbasically that line means \"if you can't, then I'll try to take it.\" The が is\nreferring to the speaker as the subject, and the object of とる is omitted.\nBasically it's あたいが（あの星を）とってみよう. Sumi wants the star, but the unnamed person\ncan't reach, so Sumi decides to have a go.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T15:49:29.490", "id": "13880", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T15:49:29.490", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "13878", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Although [勝]{か}ちそう is grammatical, the native speakers' word choice would\nsurely be 勝てそう in this particular context.\n\nA) しあいは勝ちくなさそうでしたけど... makes little to no sense. One cannot say 勝ちくない. With a\nく in there, it looks as if you conjugated a verb as you would an adjective. If\nyou said this out loud instead of writing it, we might not understand. The 勝ちく\npart would just throw your listener.\n\nB) しあいは勝ちそうじゃないでしたけど... makes more sense than (A). This is ungrammatical as\nSnailboat stated in the comment above. We would, however, understand it if you\nsaid it. The grammatical phrase is 勝ちそうじゃなかったけど.\n\nC) しあいは勝たなさそうでしたけど... is 100% grammatical. Whether or not this sounds natural,\nhowever, is another thing because of what I said at the beginning.\n\nIn conclusion, even though (C) is best as far as grammar without correction,\n(B), if corrected, takes the cake for the naturalness of the structure choice.\nBy using 勝てる instead of 勝つ to form a 勝てそうじゃなかった, it would be best.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T22:02:06.440", "id": "13882", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T22:02:06.440", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13881", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 }, { "body": "From \"A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar\"\n\nThe negative _nai_ 'not exist/not' changes to nasa before そうだ:\n\n> 村山さんの家はあまり新しくなさそうだ。\n>\n> Mr. Murayama's house doesn't look so new.\n\nIn this construction, the negative forms of verbs usually don't precede そうだ.\nInstead, Vmasu sou ni/mo nai is used:\n\n> クリスは車を売りそうにない。\n>\n> クリスは車を売りそうもない。\n>\n> Chris doesn't seem to sell his car.\n>\n> この問題は学生には出来そうにない。\n>\n> この問題は学生には出来そうもない。\n>\n> It doesn't seem that the students can solve this problem.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-25T22:02:15.250", "id": "13883", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-25T22:02:15.250", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "902", "parent_id": "13881", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "I'd consider\n\n```\n\n 勝てそうにない / 勝てそうになかった\n \n```\n\nwhich is obviously related to 勝てそうじゃない（なかった） but has the additional subjective\nnuance of \"no chance of winning\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T16:13:35.757", "id": "13927", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T16:13:35.757", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13881", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "I disagree that ちと is used more often than ちょっと. Rather than making you sound\npolite, I think using ちと would just make you sound odd for using such an\nuncommon word.\n\nちっと on the other hand is used reasonably often, especially in ちっとも.\n\nIf you'd like a more formal version of ちょっと, I think 少し would serve that\npurpose well in most situations.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T18:07:37.467", "id": "13891", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-26T18:07:37.467", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "13890", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "しとけ ＝ しておけ ＝ する + おく\n\nCombined with に, this する means \" ** _to choose_** \", not \"to do\".\n\n「どこにも行くなここにしとけ。」 suggests that someone has been looking for a good/best place\nfor something, and the speaker says that no more searching is necessary\nbecause that place has been found, which is \"this\" place.\n\nSo, your translation is already good. ここにしとけ literally means \"Choose this\nplace for good.\"\n\n**This ～～にする is extremely useful at an eatery** :\n\nMe: 「みんななんにする？」 = \"What y'all having?\"\n\nGirl A: 「アタシはコーヒー。」 = \"A coffee for me.\"\n\nGirl B: 「わたしはアイスティーにするわ」。 = \"I'll have an iced tea.\"\n\nGirl C: 「なんにしようかな～。やっぱコーヒーにしとくわ。」 = \"What should I have? I guess I'll have a\ncoffee.\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T21:55:07.740", "id": "13893", "last_activity_date": "2017-12-02T15:27:46.317", "last_edit_date": "2017-12-02T15:27:46.317", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13892", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "何かそのちょっと can mean different things depending on the context because it is a\ncombination of vague words -- \"Somehow, well, kinda.\"\n\nPossible meanings are:\n\n\"Well, how should I put it....?\"\n\n\"That seems a little, um...\"\n\n\"I do not know if I agree.\"\n\n\"Not sure if that is correct/good.\"\n\nI could go on and on but will stop here. If none of these seem to fit, please\ncome back with further context of the conversation.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-26T23:40:15.753", "id": "13895", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-26T23:40:15.753", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13894", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "Actually, a literal translation will work perfectly here --- provided that one\nis able to \"detect\" the implied plurality of the 日本の歴史の教科書.\n\n私は日本の[歴史]{れきし}の[教科書]{きょうかしょ}をトピックに[選]{えら}びました means \"I selected Japanese\nHistory textbooks as a topic (for my project work in my Japanese language\nclass).\"\n\nIf it helps, think of it as 私は『日本の歴史の教科書』をトピックに選びました .\n\nトピックに ＝ トピックとして\n\nIt is not saying that you can choose your textbook. It is saying you chose\n\"Japanese Hitory textbooks\" as a topic.\n\nAnd yes, you can rephrase it to 日本の歴史の教科書をトピックにする without changing the\nmeaning. It is just that it sounds \"better\" if you use a more specific verb\nlike 選ぶ than using the broad する. Use [選択]{せんたく}する and it will sound even more\nformal.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T01:15:01.570", "id": "13898", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-27T01:15:01.570", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13896", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "Your main issue seems to be how Japanese can tell the difference between\n\"これを見た電車の中で\" and \"これを見た。電車の中で\". Well, uh, they can tell because in the latter\ncase the two sentences are separated by a period (in writing), or by a pause\n(when spoken). You could just as easily come up with any number of examples in\nEnglish where two phrases mean one thing when they come right after each\nother, and something else entirely when they are two separate sentences.\n\nSo what about the case you mention when the speaker is speaking rapidly and\nthe pause between sentences is very short or elided entirely? The answer is\nthat the intonation is different in the two cases. I am not a expert on\nintonation and do not know the correct technical words to describe this\neffect, but a stand-alone sentence would end with a downward intonation:\n\n```\n\n これを見た↓\n \n```\n\nwhereas when the phrases were combined, no such downward intonation would be\npresent\n\n```\n\n これを見た→電車の中で\n \n```\n\nEven if no pause were present, but yet the two phrases were intended as\nseparate sentences or utterances, the downward intonation would still be\nthere:\n\n```\n\n これを見た↓電車の中で\n \n```\n\nthe listener would parse this accordingly, resulting in something like the\nfollowing:\n\n```\n\n I saw it--in the train.\n \n```\n\nrather than\n\n```\n\n The train I saw it in\n \n```\n\nYou may want to study the grammatical notion of relative clauses in general.\nThe issues are whether a \"complementizer\" or \"relativizer\" or \"relative\npronoun\" (such as \"that\" or \"which\") is used, and where the relative clause is\nplaced (before or after what it modifies). Japanese is a so-called \"head\nfinal\" language, placing the relative information before the noun (\"head\"),\nand is by no means unique. Other languages adopting a similar approach include\nTibetan and Navajo, for instance.\n\nOn a final note, you may have run into toy English sentences such as \"The\nmouse the cat the dog chased ate was gray\". Hmmm, that takes a while for\nanyone to parse. In Japanese, we have\n\n```\n\n 犬が追っていた猫が食べたネズミは灰色だった。\n \n```\n\nThis sentence is far easier to understand, by virtue of the fact that the\nhead-last structure groups each actor and its action or together in a more\ncomprehensible way.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T16:07:14.760", "id": "13925", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-29T03:25:37.057", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-29T03:25:37.057", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13900", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "It's not a traditional name. [Originates from English and\nFrench.](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%AA%E3%82%B9) Contrast\nthis with [Chisato 千里](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8D%83%E9%87%8C) for\nexample, which is Japanese. To say Alice ありす is Japanese would be similar to\nsaying the croissant is Japanese.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T11:15:45.297", "id": "14038", "last_activity_date": "2015-05-19T13:00:31.207", "last_edit_date": "2015-05-19T13:00:31.207", "last_editor_user_id": "1808", "owner_user_id": "1808", "parent_id": "13901", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "There seems to be prior occurrence of ありす as part of a traditional Japanese\nsurname, amongst [other\nnames](http://coreblog.org/naming/girls/p_3042308a3059.html). ありす can be the\ncommon Japanese female given name 有栖 (Arisu), which most likely comes is\nderived from Japanese Imperial branch family surname surname\n[有栖川](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arisugawa-no-miya) (Arisugawa).\n\nAs a somewhat ironic side note, the English name\n[Alice](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_%28given_name%29), a name derived\nfrom Old French and [Germanic](http://www.behindthename.com/name/adelaide),\nmeans \"noble/nobility.\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-01-09T17:24:13.597", "id": "21230", "last_activity_date": "2015-01-09T17:24:13.597", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "925", "parent_id": "13901", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "It's definitely not 返る (or, for that matter, 帰る). 大辞林 has this to say about\nthe use of kanji:\n\n> 「替える」は“同種の物といれかえる”の意。「メンバーを替える」「シーツを替える」\n> 「換える」は“他の物ととりかえる。交換する”の意。「宝石を金（かね）に換える」\n> 「代える」は“代用する。代理とする”の意。「挙手をもって投票に代える」「命には代えられない」\n> 「変える」は“状態を変化させる。場所を移す”の意。「髪形を変える」「態度を変える」「住所を変える」「位置を変える」「血相を変える」\n\nAccordingly, I would go with 替える or 変える. This is supported by various\nchiebukuro answers: [1](http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/1307225.html)\n[2](http://okwave.jp/qa/q1307225.html)\n[3](http://qanda.rakuten.ne.jp/qa1307225.html). Incidentally, the better word\nto use is 切り替える.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T07:06:09.240", "id": "13903", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-27T07:06:09.240", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "578", "parent_id": "13902", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "People seem to hate answers without conclusivity, but I think this is a case\nwhere uncertainty is the answer. Japanese, like all languages, is in flux. As\nsuch, there are cases where there is not yet overwhelming consensus on ways of\nexpressing certain ideas, and I believe that this is one of those cases.\n\nConsider in English that there is controversy about whether \"microphone\"\nshould be abbreviated to \"mike\" or \"mic\". I personally [stand by\n\"mike\"](http://www.sambayer.com/tirades/whymike.html), but there are a lot of\npeople who _insist_ it must be \"mic\". Similarly, people are still in flux\nabout whether electronic mail should be written \"email\", \"e-mail\", or if\nsimply \"mail\" is sufficient.\n\nFor a Japanese example of a word in flux, there is the matter of the reading\nof [`雰囲気`](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/3293/119). The kanji should,\naccording to most dictionaries, be read `ふんいき`, but most people I know say\n`ふいんき`.\n\nI've never before considered which is the kanji for `かえる` in the context of a\ntelevision before, but `替える` or `変える` are both correct enough as far as I can\ntell from looking into it a bit. So go with the one you prefer, and be\nprepared that you have a 50/50 chance that the one you're using could fall out\nof favour in the overall Japanese speaking world. As an interesting side note,\nas television slowly loses relevance to consuming entertainment over the\ninternet, it may never really come to a solid resolution, as it might become\ntoo unimportant to really finalize.\n\nAs a native English speaker, I can make a personal insistence on \"mike\" for\n\"microphone\", and I go with \"email\" and sometimes just \"mail\" depending on\ncontext. I don't care how much anyone else claims to know the language, I can\nmake my case for how I speak and stand by it. As a non-native learner of\nJapanese, the reality is that it's much harder to participate in the language\nthat way. Especially in consideration of a strong cultural thread in Japan\nthat has many Japanese people believing that the Japanese language can not be\n_truly_ understood by non-Japanese. You may very well encounter Japanese\npeople who will insist that one or the other kanji is the definitively correct\none, and they will not allow for you to be making a choice of your own. There\nis also a strong perception among many Japanese that there is little\nsubjectivity in their language, and their sense of consensus necessarily means\nfor them that their individual take is _de facto_ objectively correct. Not all\nJapanese people, of course, but when dealing with such people, in the course\nof their interaction with you, they will not consider the existence of other\nnative Japanese speakers who might disagree with them. That's just the reality\nyou have to contend with sometimes. If you want to stand by your choice,\nyou'll have to back it up with more evidence than you might if you were\nspeaking your own native language.\n\nSo, the bottom line is both `替える` or `変える` are acceptable enough... for the\ntime being. I personally like `替える`. Which do you prefer?", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-27T01:29:59.523", "id": "14302", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-27T01:29:59.523", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:48.447", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "119", "parent_id": "13902", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 }, { "body": "I looked in a few dictionaries, but they didn't agree on which kanji to use.\n\nSo how can we answer this question? By looking at actual usage. How do we do\nthis? Well, you can search Google, but unfortunately, [Google result estimates\ncan be very\nunreliable](https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/522/google-\ncounts-may-not-be-as-reliable-as-you-imagine).\n\nInstead, I decided to search the [**_Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written\nJapanese_** (BCCWJ)](http://www.kotonoha.gr.jp/shonagon/). I searched for the\nfollowing five strings and wrote down how many results I found for each, then\nsorted the results in descending order.\n\nHere's what I found:\n\n```\n\n チャンネルを変え　３３件\n チャンネルをかえ　　３件\n チャンネルを換え　　２件\n チャンネルを替え　　２件\n チャンネルを代え　　０件\n \n```\n\nAs you can see, 変 is the most popular kanji in this case.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-27T11:42:29.857", "id": "14312", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-27T11:42:29.857", "last_edit_date": "2017-03-16T15:48:25.793", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13902", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "This has probably been asked answered before... but Japanese kanji have two\nfundamental types of readings.\n\non (音) - which are readings of the character that originally come from China\nand approximate the sound of the Chinese character at the time. e.g.\n極楽(ごくらく,gokuraku)\n\nkun (訓) - which refer to using a Chinese character in part of a non-Chinese\norigin native word. e.g. 楽しい(たのしい,tanoshii)\n\nComparing the two above 楽 gets pronounced \"raku\" in the on reading instance\nand \"tano\" in the kun reading.\n\nname (名) readings are readings used in names which is kind of its own ball\ngame of mostly native pronunciation.\n\nTo know which one you want, you can look for what is call okurigana (送り仮名).\nFor many kun- readings, there will be 送り仮名 after the character (e.g. 楽しい).\nOtherwise, you will have to learn/guess based on context. There are some hints\nbut no absolute rules, i.e. pairs of character tend to be on-yomi.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T08:47:15.237", "id": "13905", "last_activity_date": "2022-08-19T14:57:45.530", "last_edit_date": "2022-08-19T14:57:45.530", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "13904", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "From the learner's PoV, I do suggest you NOT to learn a kanji's pronunciation\nseparately, but rather learn it by compound words you come across. Once you\nlearned enough you will know how to put them together (roughly). So for the\ntime being, focus on individual kanji writing, compound kanjis recognition.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T15:24:00.487", "id": "13923", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T15:24:00.487", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4402", "parent_id": "13904", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "It's just a shortened form of \"percentage point.\" Japanese is a language that\nloves to abbreviate things, and saying パーセントポイント every time could be unwieldy,\nand using \"percentage points\" is more accurate than saying \"percent\" when\ntalking about increase if we're talking about a simple increase in a number of\npercentage points. For example, if we have 50%, and we say \"It increased by\n10%,\" technically that would make 55%. However if we say \"It increased by 10\npercentage points,\" it would be 60%, and that's where Japanese takes the usage\nfrom.\n\nYou can find some more details under [用例 here on\nWikipedia](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%91%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BB%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T10:09:17.473", "id": "13907", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-27T10:09:17.473", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "13906", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "浮く to float, float to the surface. 「魚が浮いた」 「泡が浮く」 「木が水に浮く」 「空に浮く」\n\n浮かぶ to be floating at a surface, float with no movement (think of the かぶ like\n~ている）。 「氷が浮かぶ」 「白雲が浮かぶ」", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T11:48:10.360", "id": "14040", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T09:24:21.880", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-06T09:24:21.880", "last_editor_user_id": "1808", "owner_user_id": "1808", "parent_id": "13908", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "Split the first sentence into these two pieces:\n\n1) オマエは歩くのが遅ェから\n\n2) に決まってんだろ！\n\nThe first part is as you mention \"(Because) you're walking slow\"\n\nThe second part's key phrase is an altered form of 「に決まっている」which means\nsomething like \"of course this is the reason why...\"\n\nPutting the two together, this would be \"It's because you're _walking_ too\nslow (of course)!\" as if to pin the blame on you for the group being late as a\nforegone conclusion. The next sentence then goes on to say \"there's no time to\nwaste!\" as if to tell you to hurry up.\n\nに決まっている translation:\n<http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E3%81%AB%E6%B1%BA%E3%81%BE%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B>", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-27T16:54:20.687", "id": "13913", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-27T16:54:20.687", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4401", "parent_id": "13909", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I think there are two ways to parse this:\n\n> 日本語は［色々なスピーチスタイルがあること］は知っていますね。\n\nand\n\n> ［日本語は色々なスピーチスタイルがあること］は知っていますね。\n\nIn the first parsing, the second は is contrastive, as in \"With respect to\nJapanese, you at least know that there are a number of different speech\nstyles, yeah?\"\n\nIn the second parsing, the first は is contrastive, as in \"You know that\nJapanese has a number of different speech styles, but another language does\nnot, right?\"\n\nThere are two rules that I have internalized:\n\n * Any embedded はs are contrastive\n * The first non-embedded は is a normal topic marker, any following non-embedded はs are contrastive\n\nI have had other people disagree with this though, so a native speaker's\nopinion regarding this answer is needed.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T08:41:05.337", "id": "13917", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T08:41:05.337", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "13911", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "Your aesthetic preference is one thing, but whether or not others would\nunderstand what you said is another.\n\nMost adult speakers would surely understand こがね but not too many would\nunderstand the other three. Even with こがね, you will sound very strange though\nwe know what it means. We just do not use the kun-readings for these metal\nnames in our daily lives.\n\nThe kun-readings do sound cool and I like them myself, too, but they are\npretty much reserved for use in literature and the world of blacksmiths. If\nyou still want to use them, you would probably have to say the words in their\non-readings first, briefly explain your preference for the kun counterparts\nbefore you start using them.\n\nTrivia Information :\n\nIf you say しろがね out of nowhere, more people will think you said 白金 -- which is\nan upper-class section of Tokyo -- than those who will think you meant\n\"silver\". 白金 is officially read しろかね but most people pronounce it しろがね. The\nposh ladies from that area are called シロガネーゼ. A cool word to know that Genki\nwill not teach you.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-30T10:02:08.527", "id": "13957", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-30T16:09:20.417", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-30T16:09:20.417", "last_editor_user_id": "78", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13915", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "The word [着物]{きもの} presently has two different meanings.\n\nOne is \"clothes\" and it refers to ANY kind of clothes. This is the original\nmeaning of the word. However, we only had Japanese-styled clothing when the\nword was born. きもの, as one could tell from its sound, is an originaly Japanese\nword and not one borrowed from Chinese, which means that the word existed\nbefore we actually knew there were other cultures.\n\nThe other meaning is \"traditional Japanese-style clothing\" as opposed to\n[洋服]{ようふく}, Western-style clothing. More and more people have been using the\nword 着物 only for this \"new\" meaning.\n\nWhen I was a kid, my grand-parents called all of the clothes, including tee-\nshirts and jeans, in our house \"着物\", and I assure you that over 95% of the\nclothes we had were 洋服.\n\nMy parents only once in a while use the word 着物 the way my grand-parents did,\nand I myself basically never do so. We use [服]{ふく}or [衣類]{いるい} as a generic\nword for clothes.\n\nSo, 着物 is a good translation for \"kimono\" most of the time if not always\nbecause, as I said above, most of us now would only think of what you call\n\"kimono\" when hearing/seeing the word 着物.\n\n[和服]{わふく} is a good word to use as well. Technically, 和服 covers a wider range\nof clothing than 着物 does but unless you are speaking to an expert, I would say\nthat the two words are basically interchangeable. To answer your question,\nyes, 和服 includes yukata. underwears and overcoats which 着物 technically does\nnot.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T10:27:09.943", "id": "13919", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T10:37:26.490", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-28T10:37:26.490", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13916", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 }, { "body": "I would consider using katakana キモノ in this case to emphasize that the word\nwas used in an English context with the associated overtones.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T16:27:19.147", "id": "13928", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T16:27:19.147", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13916", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "[気持]{きもち}ちを[込]{こ}める is an often-used phrase when the mental or psychological\naspect of something is being emphasized. = \"to put my heart into ~~\"\n\nBaseball pitchers often say after a good performance,\n「[今日]{きょう}は[一球一球]{いっきゅういっきゅう}気持ちを込めて[投]{な}げました。」 = \"I put my heart and soul\ninto every pitch I made today.\"\n\nA singing teacher may say 「もっと気持ちを込めて[歌]{うた}いなさい！」 = \"You need to put more\nheart into your singing!\"\n\n「気持ちを込めてこのケーキを[焼]{や}いた。」= \"I put my feelings into baking this cake.\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T13:55:12.403", "id": "13921", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T13:55:12.403", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13920", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "It's a conversational form of\n\n```\n\n 聞きたいとおっしゃていました\n \n```\n\nwhere って is a conversational form of the quoting と reporting something being\nsaid, and the い of いました is elided as it usually is in conversational speech.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T15:55:21.470", "id": "13924", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T15:55:21.470", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13922", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "It is the speaker that is doing both the される and the たまらない in this sentence.\n(i.e. he is the one being passively subjected to the other person doing 自己完結).\n\nIn general I don't think you would go too far wrong to remember たまらない\nliterally as \"cannot bear\" rather than something abstracted like \"extremely\".\nMost of its uses follow naturally from that literal definition.\n\n[三省堂 entry for たまらない\n【▽堪らない】](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%9F%E3%81%BE%E3%82%89%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)\n\n> (3)…されることに耐えられない。とても困る。 「毎朝五時に起こされたのでは―ない」\n\nSo in this case, the speaker is saying that he really doesn't appreciate being\n自己完結'd by the other person, and is hoping (asking) that they stop.\n\n* * *\n\nAlso, be sure you understand what is meant by 自己完結. If you aren't completely\nclear about the sense of an unfamiliar Japanese word and it doesn't fit super-\nsnugly into the context, consult a Japanese monolingual dictionary, especially\nfor phrases like this when EDICT is more confusing than helpful with its short\ndefinitions. Concerning\n[自己完結](http://www.weblio.jp/content/%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1%E5%AE%8C%E7%B5%90):\n\n>\n> 何かの物事について、自分自身の中だけで納得したり決着したりしているさま。「周りの人からするとまだ決着していないのに、独りよがりに決着している」といった意味合いで否定的に用いられることもある。 \n> (Regarding some matter, the state of being satisfied or reaching a\n> resolution only within oneself. Sometimes used with a negative nuance of\n> \"though no resolution has yet been reached from the perspective of the\n> people around him, he himself selfishly considers it settled\".)", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T20:14:09.287", "id": "13931", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T20:20:05.200", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-28T20:20:05.200", "last_editor_user_id": "315", "owner_user_id": "315", "parent_id": "13930", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "無理難題さらっと滑り之ませるのやめてくだい makes no sense as is because of the 之 character.\n\nIf it were 込 or こ, it would make perfect sense and the sentence would mean:\n\n\"Please do not slip a tall order in here as if it were nothing!\" if that makes\nsense in English. In case it does not, the speaker is asking this person not\nto make an unreasonable demand without hesitation.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-28T23:24:49.377", "id": "13933", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-28T23:24:49.377", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13932", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "It has nothing to do with Hiroshima dialect.\n\n～～てこ ＝ ～～ていこう (volitional form of ～～ていく)\n\nてこ is just a colloquial pronunciation.\n\n～～てこ = \"Let's go ~~ing!\" or simply \"Let's ~~!\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T00:09:11.927", "id": "13935", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-29T00:23:33.033", "last_edit_date": "2013-12-29T00:23:33.033", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13934", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "> 分かる is never used as 分かれる, right? Because 分かる is already a potential-form\n> verb, according to my Japanese grammar dictionary.\n\nRight. You don't say 分かれる to mean \"can understand\".\n\n> About なる: can it be conjugated as なれる?\n\nYes, the potential form of なる is なれる.\n\n> Or how about ならせる? For example, 青くならせる--make it blue.\n\nならせる is the causative form of なる. 青くならせる is understandable but we normally use\n青くする (or 青くさせる) to mean \"make it blue\".\n\n> make her happy → 幸せにする \n> turn this blue → 青くする \n> make it so → そうする\n\n> And back to 分かる, can you say 分からせる: 'make it understood'?\n\nYes. 分からせる is the causative form of 分かる.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T04:00:36.970", "id": "13939", "last_activity_date": "2022-09-19T02:00:25.587", "last_edit_date": "2022-09-19T02:00:25.587", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13936", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Taking an example from 大辞林:\n\n * [狐]{きつね}に[化]{ば}かされる (\"bewitched by a fox\")\n\nIn this case, what did the bewitching (the fox) is followed by に and the\nappropriate form of [化]{ば}かす.\n\nIf you wanted to add who was being bewitched, just add them as a subject,\nfollowed by は, at the beginning. From there it works like any other Japanese\nverb.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-03-17T17:34:17.753", "id": "14909", "last_activity_date": "2014-03-17T18:43:31.860", "last_edit_date": "2014-03-17T18:43:31.860", "last_editor_user_id": "4914", "owner_user_id": "4914", "parent_id": "13937", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "The reason is the negativity associated with the plural suffix 「供」, which\ntends to be used in a derogatory way as in 「[野郎供]{やろうども}」, 「[雑魚供]{ざこども}」, etc.\n\" **Mouths to feed** \" is what 「子供」 could sound/look like and unfortunately\nthat is what the word used to often imply because Japan has not always been a\nwealthy nation like it is now.\n\nIn schools (Japanese schools. of course), I myself never officially learned to\nwrite 「こども」 or 「子ども」 entirely in kanji -- **never**. I had, for that reason,\nlong been wondering why Japanese-learners write it in kanji. However, in June\nof 2013, our Ministry of Education changed its mind and announced that it\nwould use 「子供」 in all of its official documents.\n\n<http://www.j-cast.com/2013/09/01182664.html?p=all>\n\nI myself will probably keep writing it as 「こども」 or 「子ども」 because old habits\ndie hard, but since last June, we suddenly have every reason to write it as\n「子供」. Newspapers can go either way because they are not official documents\nissued by the government.", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T05:51:11.387", "id": "13940", "last_activity_date": "2017-07-10T18:12:08.357", "last_edit_date": "2017-07-10T18:12:08.357", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13938", "post_type": "answer", "score": 31 } ]

[ { "body": "From Daijirin:\n\n```\n\n かえる《替・換・代・変》\n 「替える」は“同種の物といれかえる”の意。「メンバーを替える」「シーツを替える」\n 「換える」は“他の物ととりかえる。交換する”の意。「宝石を金（かね）に換える」\n 「代える」は“代用する。代理とする”の意。「挙手をもって投票に代える」「命には代えられない」\n 「変える」は“状態を変化させる。場所を移す”の意。「髪形を変える」「態度を変える」「住所を変える」「位置を変える」「血相を変える」\n \n```\n\nSo roughly in English:\n\n * 「替える」: replace something with something of the same kind. \"replace a player\" \"change the sheets\"\n * 「換える」: replace something with something else. exchange. \"exchange jewels for money\"\n * 「代える」: substitute. represent. \"substitute a show of hands for a vote\" \"life cannot be substituted by anything else\"\n * 「変える」: change the state of something. move something somewhere else. \"change one's hairstyle\" \"change one's attitude\" \"change an address\" \"change the location of something\" \"change color (turn pale/red)\"\n\nDaijirin lists all the compounds you gave with 替／換:\n\n * 置き換える・置き替える: rearrange\n * 入れ替える・入れ換える: replace A with B, change A for B\n * 取り替える・取り換える: replace, renew\n\nTypically, you would use the first version unless you wanted to emphasize a\nparticular nuance:\n\n * 置き替える: move to another place of the same kind\n * 入れ換える: replace A with B, which is of a different kind\n * 取り換える: replace with something not necessarily of the same kind", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T16:13:51.290", "id": "13945", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-29T16:13:51.290", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2964", "parent_id": "13942", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "There is an important difference in nuance and often even in meaning.\n\nNuance:\n\n(Someone) **と** つきあう = \"to hang out with someone willingly\"\n\n(Someone) **に** つきあう = \"to hang out with someone **unwillingly** \" because you\nfeel obliged to do so.\n\nDepending on context, 「(Someone) **と** つきあう」 means \"to date someone\" and when\nit means this, the phrase cannot be replaced with「(Someone) **に** つきあう」. That\nis unless you are dating that person unwillingly.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T22:50:06.167", "id": "13953", "last_activity_date": "2020-01-18T14:16:41.193", "last_edit_date": "2020-01-18T14:16:41.193", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13944", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "〜ねえ is a colloquial form of 〜ない, and 〜といったらない is a fixed phrase meaning \"very\"\nor \"extremely\".", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-29T17:15:26.787", "id": "13947", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-29T17:15:26.787", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "578", "parent_id": "13946", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "[良]{よ}しとしましょう can mean:\n\n\"Let's call it good enough!\",\n\n\"We will let well enough alone.\",\n\n\"It could be worse.\",\n\netc.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-30T01:31:11.413", "id": "13954", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-30T01:31:11.413", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13948", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "This might be an overkill, but this book is dedicated to the subject:\n<http://amzn.to/1fbjwj4>\n\nPublished by the IPA Information-technology Promotion Agency to standardize\nthe terminology used throughout the software life-cycle. Many big Japanese\nSIers dig it.\n\nBut that book is huge, so I'll give you some translations that we use (I've\nworked at Japanese SIers):\n\n```\n\n \"blueprint\" -> 設計書\n \"assembly\" -> not sure, maybe 結合\n \"infrastructure\" -> 基盤\n \"building\" -> 構築\n \"attaching\" -> 添付？\n \"extending\" -> 拡張\n \n```", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-22T12:05:33.657", "id": "14269", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-22T15:28:17.233", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-22T15:28:17.233", "last_editor_user_id": "499", "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "13955", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 }, { "body": "**PART I - IT'S NOT AS SIMPLE AS FINDING A METAPHORICAL THEME**\n\nI don't believe you will find wide-sweeping solutions to your problem by, for\nexample, using construction-related words.\n\nFrom my experience in translation, it seems to me that the Japanese word\nchosen is the word that most accurately describes the action, and not\nnecessarily based on a metaphor. My personal opinion is that Japanese writing,\nbased on Kanji, lends itself more to 'recombination' of meanings than\n'borrowing' from a theme. To me, this is a major difference between word-based\nand character-based vocabularies.\n\nFor instance, my wife is a medical translator, and I've noticed that words\nthat are extremely hard to understand in English are incredibly simple in\nJapanese because they are based on combining meanings. For example 'ozostomia'\nis 口臭 (mouth + stink). peribronchitis is 気管支周囲炎 (windpipe+around+inflamed).\nDon't even need a dictionary to understand them.\n\nI know the argument can be made that these are based on Latin or Greek, and\none can trace the etymology. I think demonstrates the inherent need in English\nto 'pull' from the past. Pull from Latin, pull from Greek, pull from similar-\nmeaning words in other contexts and adapt them. Whereas, Chinese and Japanese\nhave, for lack of a better word, a lego-block vocabulary. And since the need\nto pull words from the past is not needed, I don't believe this mindset to use\nmetaphorical themes is prevalent.\n\nI've digressed a bit here, but what I'm trying to say is that it's very easy\nto make new words in Japanese, and not so much in English - so in English we\ntend to look for 'parallels' and adopt an existing word into a new capacity.\nWe can't expect the same perspective from Japanese language, which I think is\nwhat you are looking for.\n\n**PART II - BUT HERE ARE SOME WAYS TO FIND THE RIGHT WORD**\n\nHowever, if you are not sure what word to use, the best thing to do is check\nexample sentences, rather than the words in your dictionary. Your probability\nof success making a metaphor-based guess of the words listed in your\ndictionary will not, in my opinion, allow you to use the word confidently, or\neven necessarily provide you the proper word.\n\nI recommend checking any of the many online resources, (weblio is good these\ndays) by typing the word in question, and comparing the meaning you 'want'\nagainst the sentences. For example, if you type 'architecture' you will see\nsentences that talk about the architecture of a building, and others that are\nabout '16-bit architecture'. Compare and choose the most obvious and common\nwords.\n\nIf I am translating a document with uncommon, obtuse, or difficult words, I\nwill usually try to find some established use in patents. WIPO (World\nIntellectual Property Organization) is one good resource for this; with 2.2\nmillion patents on file, you are sure to find something. Abstracts of Japanese\npatents are usually in Japanese and English on the same page, so it's easy to\nestablish a usage history.\n\nI hope this can help you when you're stuck, even though it may not have been\nthe wide-brush answer to your problems you may have hoped for.", "comment_count": 6, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-23T17:55:52.017", "id": "14279", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-24T02:43:11.190", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-24T02:43:11.190", "last_editor_user_id": "4075", "owner_user_id": "4075", "parent_id": "13955", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "From the Wikipedia article on Hitachi Mine (there does not appear to be one\nfor 飯場制度 itself):\n\n>\n> 日立鉱山の急速な発展は、久原ら鉱山経営陣に鉱山で働く労働者の確保と、急増した鉱山労働者たちに対する統制という大きな課題をもたらすことになった。久原らは鉱夫に対してかなり強引な使役を行い、また日本の鉱山で慣習的に行われてきた飯場制度や、鉱夫間で技能養成や相互扶助などの目的として存在した友子制度を利用して、鉱夫を日本各地から確保し、確保した鉱夫たちを統制していった。\n\nThe language is not direct, but it's easy to imagine what went on.\n\n(as an aside, 「友子」 here appears to refer to a [system of apprenticeship\nbetween miners](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E5%8F%8B%E5%AD%90).)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T07:51:08.760", "id": "13964", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-31T07:51:08.760", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3131", "parent_id": "13956", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "**Disclaimer** : I am not a native speaker; I think my sentences are correct\nbut they might sound slightly weird.\n\nThis is a case where the topical 〜は sets a \"domain of discourse\", i.e. a\ncontext. The following noun 値段 is _indirectly_ implied to belong to the\ncontext noun 我が社の商品.\n\nThis may sound confusing, so here are some simpler examples:\n\n> 日本語は、文法が難しい。\n>\n> Talking about Japanese, the grammar is hard.\n\nSo the exact meaning is slightly different from\n\n> 日本語の文法は難しい\n>\n> Japanese's grammar is hard.\n\nIn the first case, you first establish \"OK, we are talking about Japanese\nhere\", then you say, \"The grammar is hard\". Since we have the overarching\ntopic of Japanese, we can do things we can't do just with の, for example:\n\n> 日本語は、文法は難しい。でも、発音はとてもやさしい。\n>\n> Talking about Japanese, the grammar is hard. But the pronunciation is easy!\n\nWe can do this because the 日本語は topic or \"overarching theme\" hasn't expired\nyet.\n\nBut with の, it means something strange:\n\n> 日本語の文法は難しい。でも、発音はとてもやさしい。\n>\n> The grammar of Japanese is hard. But pronunciation (as a whole, of all\n> languages) is easy!\n\nIn this case, the \"pronunciation\" has no relationship to \"Japanese\", so it\nrefers to pronunciation or phonology as a whole, i.e. in general for all\nlanguages.\n\nThis also explains the usage of が with あります. Too many people are taught \"が\nreplaces を\" which is completely wrong. This usage relies on は's nature:\n\n> 私は本があります。\n>\n> Talking about me: there's a book (that's mine)\n\nMany other languages have a similar structure, such as Latin:\n\n> Angelis alae sunt.\n>\n> \"To angels, wings exist\" = \"Angels have wings\"\n>\n> 天使には翼があります。\n\n**TL;DR** : は does not replace の here, it means what は means. Through its\ntopic-setting nature, it indirectly implies possession in some cases, but also\nmany other things, such as being able to extend the topic through several\nsentences.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-30T16:01:32.420", "id": "13959", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-30T16:07:52.340", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "2960", "parent_id": "13958", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "I take it to be saying...\n\n```\n\n We don't raise the prices of our products\n \n```\n\nOR\n\n```\n\n Regarding our products, we don't raise their prices.\n \n```\n\n我が社の商品 means our companies' goods. I don't know what your teachers are telling\nyou, but this definitely seems like it is the topic は to me. 上げません = to\nincrease. 値段を is then the 直接目的語. I'm inferring the subject is \"we\" but it\ncould be \"you\" or some other subject given in prior context...", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-30T16:46:55.977", "id": "13960", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-30T16:46:55.977", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "13958", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "I find this slightly non-standard, but fully understandable. I think it's a\nmix of the sentences\n\n> テレビで観たという方、ぜひぜひ... People who saw it on TV, please...\n\nand\n\n> もしテレビで観たという方がいれば、ぜひぜひ... If anybody saw it on TV, please...\n\nI don't think there's a hard rule that もし has to go with ～たら or ～えば, but it\nneeds to precede some kind of condition. For example, もし～場合(は) and もし～とき(は)\nare also possible.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T05:28:14.480", "id": "13962", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-31T05:28:14.480", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "13961", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "Like snailplane commented, it is a contracted form of して しまう. \nI would add that the final ～おう marks the volitional form of しまう. If that can\nhelp you understand better the sentence, an other very similar way of saying\nit would be:\n\n> このまま昼ねを して しまいましょう か", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T14:58:04.947", "id": "14021", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T14:58:04.947", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1319", "parent_id": "13963", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "Basically, which one sounds better (or more proper) depends on the subject of\nthe sentence.\n\n「けいこさん」 is a third person and we would use 「言っていました」. Speaking from the native\nspeaker's perspective, this is like the speaker is \"reporting\" to the\nlistener(s) the statement that was made by a third person.\n\nIt is not totally incorrect to say「けいこさんが「ｘｘｘ」と言いました。」 but it sounds fairly\nawkward and unnatural. This sentence surely is grammatical if grammar is what\nmatters but it is just not something native speakers would say in natural\nsettings. To me, it sounds \"translated\".\n\nWhen the subject is the first or second person, the usual choice is\ndefinitely「言いました」. The exceptions are when we retrospectively quote a\nstatement made a long time ago by \"me\" or \"you\".\n\nNOTE: What I said above is valid even when the subject of the sentence is not\nmentioned, which is often the case in Japanese as you know.\n\nFinally, whether we should use が or は would depend on the context. We cannot\nsay which one is better based on this short sentence by itself.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T12:22:05.033", "id": "13969", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-31T12:22:05.033", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13967", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "I would recommend avoiding projecting English/Western linguistic terminology\nonto Japanese as much as humanly possible, as it will mostly just distort what\nis really going on. Focus on how it is used until you're ready to read about\n[native Japanese linguistic\nanalysis](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E#.E6.96.87.E6.B3.95).\n他に is ほかに because that's how it's used, in the end.\n\nA more satisfying answer in between blind tautology and heavy-duty analysis is\nto analyze 「他に」 as a 'list of alternatives', as shown by the 「これにする」fragment.\n\"他に\" is expressing the existence of other choices, which you know is given the\nに particle.\n\n> 「 **どれに** する？」\n>\n\n>> 「うん…これと、これかな。」\n\n>\n> 「 **他には** ？」\n>\n\n>> 「あと、そこの…」\n\n>\n> 「赤いの、それとも、青いの？」\n>\n\n>> 「うん…やっぱり **青いのに** しよう。」\n\n(If you are a programmer or an adventure gamer, you can think of it as a\nforked path, and the \"に\" here as marking a direction or destination you go to\nupon choosing.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T09:03:54.927", "id": "14035", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T09:03:54.927", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "3131", "parent_id": "13970", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "When a verb is directly marked by だろう／でしょう, there are three meanings:\n\n> 行くだろう \n> \"It will (probably) go.\" (downwards tone throughout) \n> \"It's going, isn't it?\" (upwards during 行く, then downstep) \n> \"I wonder if it will go.\" (neutral tone throughout)\n\nWhile if it's marked by （ん／の）＋（だろう／でしょう）, it's like before, but the first\noption is strengthened a little:\n\n> 行くのだろう \n> \"I'm sure it will go.\" (downwards tone throughout) \n> \"It's going, isn't it?\" (upwards during 行くの, then downstep) \n> \"I wonder if it it will go.\" (neutral tone throughout)\n\nIn writing, when there isn't a の, the 3rd option (rhetorical question) isn't\nquite as likely, but in speech they are all disambiguated quite well. I'm not\nsure if that's a personal quirk of my Japanese or not.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T23:59:57.560", "id": "13978", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-31T23:59:57.560", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "13971", "post_type": "answer", "score": 13 } ]

[ { "body": "This 「ぞ」 is a 係助詞{かかりじょし} (binding particle) from classical Japanese.\n\n**History** : It was originally そ in the Nara period, then ぞ in the Heian\nperiod, gone in the Muromachi period except for people intentionally trying to\nsound poetic, such as the author of this poem.\n\n**Semantics** : It stresses/emphasizes what it marks\n\n**Syntax** : It occurs in the usual spots of a 係助詞 (the syntactic class\ncontaining は, も, こそ, でも, etc.), but in addition, it is followed by the 連体形 of\na verb -- this phenomena occurs with a few other 係助詞 in Classical Japanese and\nis called 係り結び.\n\n**Examples** :\n\n> 右近 **ぞ** 見知りたる。呼べ！ \n> ukon zo misiritaru. yobe. \n> \"Ukon knows for sure. Call her!\"\n>\n> みな鎧の袖を **ぞ** ぬらしける。 \n> mina yorohi no sode wo zo nurasikeru. \n> \" _Everyone_ wet the sleeves of their armor.\"\n\nIn your case:\n\n> 霞か雲か 匂い **ぞ** 出{い}ずる \n> kasumi ka kumo ka nioi zo izuru \n> \"Is it mist? Is it a cloud? The color radiates!\"\n\n(This 出ずる is in fact a newer spelling of the 連体形 of the\n下二段活用動詞「[出づ](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E5%87%BA%E3%81%A5)」, 「出づる」,\nmeaning that this sentence fits the bill.)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T21:09:08.140", "id": "13973", "last_activity_date": "2014-08-04T05:54:25.503", "last_edit_date": "2020-06-17T08:18:27.500", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "13972", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "The word in the title of your question is not 大切{たいせつ}, it is 親切{しんせつ}.\n\nIf you look 親切 up in jisho.org, you should discover that: [親切 on\njisho.org](http://jisho.org/words?jap=%E8%A6%AA%E5%88%87&eng=&dict=edict)", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2013-12-31T22:09:30.960", "id": "13975", "last_activity_date": "2013-12-31T22:09:30.960", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "13974", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "「[農工同盟]{のうこうどうめい}」 is the only term I could think of.\n\nI am pretty sure that it should predate \"steel and rice\" in English, but I\nhighly doubt that it predates \"iron and rye\" from German.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T02:06:10.900", "id": "13980", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T02:06:10.900", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13976", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "かって is not a word or phrase so it does not mean anything by itself.\n\n～～かって is a colloquial pronunciation of ～～かと. The か is a question particle and\nと is a quoting particle.\n\n[胃]{い}に[穴]{あな}でも[開]{あ}けるんじゃないかって ＝ 『胃に穴でも開けるんじゃないか？』と（思って）\n\n＝ \"I thought/wondered to myself (that someone might) 『胃に穴でも開けるんじゃないか？』\"\n\nAs you said, じゃない here is affirmative.\n\nこっち here means \"I\" (= the speaker).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T01:29:39.047", "id": "13979", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T01:29:39.047", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13977", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "First, what sounds natural in English is of no relevance to what sounds\nnatural in Japanese as the two languages are completely unrelated.\n\nThis \"advertisement\" is a creation of Japan Tabacco Inc., which is a private\ncompany; therefore, it is not a public announcement (at least by the Japanese\nstandards). Since it is advertisement, it can have more freedom in its style\nof expression than real public announcements by a local or the national\ngovernment, which would often tend to sound stiff.\n\nTrust me, using the past tense is NOT a common practice in catch copies in\nJapan, either.\n\nBy saying 「たばこを持つ手は、子供の顔の高さだった。」, it makes us Japanese-speakers feel like we\nare readng prose --- a line from a novel or something. It kind of sticks in my\nmind, which is a good sign of success with mottos, catch copies, etc.\n\nOn its website <http://www.jti.co.jp/tobacco-\nworld/torikumi/manners/index.html> , Japan Tabacco Inc. states, regarding this\nphrase (at bottom left of page) :\n\n「○○はやめましょう」という広告ではなく、たばこを吸われる方が身近に感じられる、日々よくあるシーンをピックアップし、たばこを吸われる方自身がマナーのことに気づき、考えられる広告としました。\n\nMy freehand TL: \"Instead of an ad like 'Let's stop ~~~!', we made an ad by\nselecting an ordinary scene that smokers would feel an intimate connection\nwith and that would have them reflect on their manners and really \"think\".\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T10:12:24.107", "id": "13984", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T11:09:37.490", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-01T11:09:37.490", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13982", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "[世話]{せわ} is a [和製漢語]{わせいかんご}, a Japan-made, Chinese-looking word. It does not\nexist in Chinese even though it is an on-reading word.\n\nThus, the kanji combination「世話」is only an ateji.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T10:51:22.970", "id": "13985", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T10:51:22.970", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13983", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Not being of Chinese origin does not necessarily imply being ateji (in the\nsense of only borrowing a kanji's sound with no or hardly any respect to its\nmeaning). 文化、文明、民族、思想 are (according to the Japanese wikipedia) 和製漢語 as well,\nbut do they qualify as ateji? Also 大根 (広辞苑). Conversely, there are words of\nChinese origin where each character is used for its sounds only, eg many\nimported religious terms.\n\nAccording to gogen-allguide and 広辞苑, 世話 originally signified exactly what the\nkanjis suggest: \"common talk\", 日常語, 口語. It then acquired the additional sense\nof 日常的なもの, an object of daily life; and 面倒をみる (look after/take care of sb.)\nduring the Edo period.\n\nAs for the shift to its current sense, there are various hypotheses: (a) It\nderives from 忙【せわ】しい, which would make the spelling 世話 ateji; or (b) it is an\nextension of the original meaning, 「人の為に言葉を差し挟む意から」(広辞苑) (words spoken in the\ninterests of a particular person).", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T12:43:24.430", "id": "13986", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T12:43:24.430", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3275", "parent_id": "13983", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 } ]

[ { "body": "違い is the 連用形 of 違う, comparable to 違って here.\n\nXと違う is \"unlike X\", \"different from X\".\n\nAnd 行き is the opposite of 帰り, that is, \"on the way there\" as opposed to \"on\nthe way back\" (presumably the character is currently on the way back). See\n[行き帰り](http://tangorin.com/general/%E8%A1%8C%E3%81%8D%E5%B8%B0%E3%82%8A).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T15:50:39.480", "id": "13989", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T15:50:39.480", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "315", "parent_id": "13988", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "The 未然形 isn't just し, there are せ (eg せん, せず, negation) and さ (eg させる, される).\n\nActually if you look at 文語 the 未然形 was actually せ (and the 命令形 just せよ).\n\nFinally, if you consider that the 終止形 is す and that you can't form the\npotential (it is できる instead) while you can for the modern verbs coming from\nkami-nidan verbs...\n\nProbably too brief, but I hope it will help.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T18:48:09.997", "id": "13992", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T21:13:56.273", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-01T21:13:56.273", "last_editor_user_id": "3275", "owner_user_id": "2972", "parent_id": "13990", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "To add to the previous answer, there is no clear-cut distinction between\n'regular' and 'irregular'; also, irregularities can often be explained and may\nhint at an old form or conjugational system. Eg strong verbs in English and\nGerman (ablaut conjugation), be-was-is-am (merger of different verbs).\n\nAs for ある, while *あらない is not used in modern Japanese, grammar (conjugational\npatterns) would predict this form and I would not be surprised to find it in\nsome dialect. Also, we can negate ある via the 未然形: 非【あ】らず.\n\nThis slight irregularity in ある is considered insignificant enough to be\nclassified as a 'regular' verb, but never mind by which name we choose to call\nit. There are also other slight irregularities: いらっしゃイます (not いらっしゃります), 乞ウた\n(not こった), 行ッた(not いいた).\n\nThe origin of these different conjugation paradigms is unclear. According to\none hypothesis, many 一段 and 二段 verbs were formed by processes such as adding\nある, 得る; and that there is an older conjugation paradigm explaining irregular\nforms.\n\nWithout going into details, observe that 3/4 of all verbs in Old Japanese are\n四段; and a few 'irregular' words such 死ぬ・死ぬる・死に・死な(in the order 終・体・連・未 base)\nhint at an older 四段-like conjugation with a 連体形 ending in る.\n\nSee 'Bjarke Frellesvig and John Whitman, 2008, Proto-Japanese: Issues and\nProspects' for a technical discussion (cited in his book 'A history of the\nJapanese language', I have not read it.)\n\nSee <https://archive.org/stream/historicalgramma00sansuoft#page/150/mode/2up>\nfor a dated and less-technical discussion.\n\nTo summarize, it seems likely that your observations are not coincidence and\nthat there is a relation between the different conjugation paradigms, but the\ndetails may be lost in the mist of time.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T21:03:47.407", "id": "13995", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T21:03:47.407", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3275", "parent_id": "13990", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You can say これは大{おお}きくない山{やま}です; it is perfectly natural.\n\nHowever, you can't say これは大{おお}きくありません山{やま}です.\n\nThe reason behind this is that polite 〜ます forms don't have a 連体形{れんたいけい}, or\nin more English terms, polite things can't modify nouns.\n\nFor example, you can say 食{た}べる人{ひと} to mean \"a person who is eating\".\nHowever, you can't say 食{た}べます人{ひと} to mean the same things, since polite\nforms don't work when modifying nouns. Similarly, you say 大{おお}きい山{やま}, not\n大{おお}きいです山{やま}, and 大{おお}きくない山{やま} rather than 大{おお}きくありません山{やま}.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T19:26:19.583", "id": "13993", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T19:26:19.583", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "2960", "parent_id": "13991", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "やっちゃいねえ here is a combination shortened/colloquial version of やってはいない.\n\nない>ねえ is a change that happens frequently in colloquial masculine speech\n(which this pretty obviously is, it's got おれ also).\n\nやっちゃ is a shortening of やっては. You're generally allowed to put a topic particle\nbetween the two halves of a -て+VERB construction (unless the verb is しまう).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-01T22:43:01.253", "id": "13996", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-01T22:43:01.253", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3639", "parent_id": "13994", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "あらず、is often used in 熟語、or old sayings (like 無きにしもあらず) probably made at least\naround 50 - 100 years ago.. but I don't know exactly when.\n\nNobody would say あらない・あらず in spoken or written language today. Although people\ncan fully understand it, it's something you only read or hear people citing\nthose old saying. It is not used in day-to-day life.\n\nSo, なし、simply means \"there is not\", while あらず meaning the same with the nuance\nthat the sentence was composed / used long time ago. It also brings the nuance\nthat the message conveyed has stood the test of time, and with a bit more\nauthority, or properness. Modern people might intentionally use あらず to bring\nthis atmosphere of some old saying even though the sentence might be composed\nquite recently.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-02-26T17:34:13.823", "id": "14630", "last_activity_date": "2014-02-26T17:34:13.823", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4770", "parent_id": "13998", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "That is a proper reading. 「私」 can be read as 「わたし」, 「わたくし」, or one of several\narchaic ways given the context.", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-02T11:44:57.467", "id": "14000", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-02T13:01:13.483", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-02T13:01:13.483", "last_editor_user_id": "22", "owner_user_id": "22", "parent_id": "13999", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "In Japanese schools, we were taught that 「わたくし」 was the only correct kun-\nreading for 「私」. Read it another way, you got marked off.\n\nOriginally, this was all I was going to say in my answer. However, I did a\nquick research and found that it changed in 2010. Now, both わたくし and わたし are\ncorrect kun-readings.\n\n<http://flat.kahoku.co.jp/u/flat01/Nmx1WERoJuzy7OhDPtQc>\n\n<http://ja.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%A7%81>", "comment_count": 7, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-02T12:49:18.103", "id": "14001", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-02T12:49:18.103", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "13999", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "To answer the question in the title, the furigana in Aozora files are the\nfurigana that were actually used in the printed original. So they are accurate\nin the sense that they represent actual usage.\n\nHowever, because most of the books there are very old (the majority being\nprewar), that usage often does not reflect what the Ministry of Education\ndeems acceptable today. In the first few lines of Ozaki Hōsai's \"Yogisha\", for\nexample, I see 離婚{わか}れて and 妾{わたし}.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T02:58:32.000", "id": "14032", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T02:58:32.000", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "531", "parent_id": "13999", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "According to\n[http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%87%BA%E5%8B%A4&ref=sa](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E5%87%BA%E5%8B%A4&ref=sa),\n出勤 means \"attending work\" (like 出席)\n\n通勤 means to commute to/from work. 通 here having the meaning of 通う（かよう)\n\nthus the correction answer is b.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-02T14:06:53.847", "id": "14003", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-02T14:06:53.847", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "14002", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "There is a fairly big difference in meaning between the two words.\n\n[出勤]{しゅっきん} means \"arriving at one's workplace\". The focus is on your presence\nat work by a certain time and/or on certain days. It has an antonym [欠勤]{けっきん}\n= \"absence\" from work.\n\n[通勤]{つうきん} means \"commuting to and from work\" and the focus is on the\ntransportation method, the time it takes you to commute, how easy/tiring it\nis, etc. 通勤 has no antonym.\n\nThus, the answer for the question at the end should be 通勤. The\nword「[朝夕]{あさゆう}」 should give a clue as 出勤 cannot take place both in the\nmorning and in the evening.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-02T14:07:36.940", "id": "14004", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-02T14:07:36.940", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14002", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "The changes are _basically_ regular based on the \"original accent\" of each\nword, _but_ (1) these \"original accents\" are not set in stone; (2)\npeople/groups speak differently; and (3) pitch accent, like any linguistic\nphenomenon, is constantly changing. (I'm going to skip the discussion of\nwhether accent exists, etc., and just stipulate that the last \"high\" mora\nbefore the drop is the \"accent\" of a given word.)\n\nMost adjectives are like /hayai/ in that their \"original accent\" is two morae\nfrom the end. [よい]{HL}, [あおい]{LHL}, [うれしい]{LHHL}. In the /-ku/ form of these\nadjectives, the accent moves one morae back (or stays where it is if it's\nalready on the first mora): [よく]{HL}, [あおく]{HLL}, [うれしく]{LHLL}.\n\nBut there are some adjectives with no \"original accent\" at all: [あかい]{LHH},\n[かなしい]{LHHH}. These remain accentless in /-ku/ form: [あかく]{LHH}, [かなしく]{LHHH}.\n\nNow the above is complicated by individual differences (perhaps influences\nfrom one's native dialect, etc.), group differences (old/young,\nYamanote/Shitamachi, etc.), word differences (slang/formal, etc.) and just\nplain old language change.\n\nFor example, it seems to be becoming more common for adjectives with an\n\"original accent\" to keep the accent in the same place even when they are\nconjugated. Regarding すごい, for example, the Shinmeikai accent dictionary\nspecifies [すごい]{LHL} and accordingly [すごくて]{HLLL}, but they have a note: \"新は\n[すごくて]{LHLL}\". So they recognize [すごくて]{LHLL} as a \"new\" form -- not \"wrong\"\nor even \"informal\", but \"new\".\n\n> No grammar book I have describes the interaction between accent and\n> conjugation\n\nVery few do! I am not sure why this is. It may be because very few books in\nJapanese about Japanese do this either, or at best give a cursory treatment at\nthe back. This in turn may be because accent varies so wildly between dialects\nof Japanese, even where vocabulary, syntax, other-parts-of-phonology, etc.\nremain (relatively) stable.\n\nI don't know of any really good way to learn Japanese pitch accent from\nEnglish written materials. There are plenty of academic papers on it, of\ncourse, but they are more useful for reference than (self-)education --\nlearning _about_ rather than learning. IIRC Samuel Martin's grammar marks\naccent scrupulously, but I don't remember how much explanation he offers and\nthe book is prohibitively priced anyway.\n\nHowever, in Japanese the situation is different. There are lots of books about\naccent available -- a nice recent one is _Nihongo Akusento Nyumon_\n(日本語アクセント入門), eds. Matsumori Akiko, Nitta Tetsuo, Kibe Nobuko, Nakai Yukihiko\n(Sanseido 2012). Some dictionaries also have accent information. The 日本国語大辞典\n(available by subscription through JapanKnowledge) has information for\nmultiple accents (Tokyo, Kyoto, historical). NHK publishes an accent\ndictionary (which its on-air personalities are expected to adhere to), and so\ndoes Shinmeikai. Both of those include information at the back explaining how\naccent is affected by conjugation and other phenomena.", "comment_count": 5, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T01:22:23.907", "id": "14063", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T12:18:20.930", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-05T12:18:20.930", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "531", "parent_id": "14006", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "You are not imagining things. (The tougher) Kansai male speakers do say\n「～～～じゃい!」 in colloquial speech. Only the 「い」part is a particle -- an emphatic\nsentence or phrase ender. And じゃ ＝ だ.\n\nThe Standard counterpart would be だよ or だい.\n\nThe Kanto countepart would be だい or でぇ.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T00:04:45.870", "id": "14010", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T00:13:11.000", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-03T00:13:11.000", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14007", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "It means \"to have a momentary brain freeze\" but it is not of the icecream\nkind.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-02T23:53:55.867", "id": "14009", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-02T23:53:55.867", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14008", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You did not mention one (important) thing so I would like to ask. Are you\naware that the unmentioned subjects of the sentences are different between\n「それを見せて下さいませんか。」 and 「それを見せて頂けませんか？」?\n\nBTW, you would need to write ください and いただく in KANA because they are used as\nsupplementary verbs here.\n\nIn 「それを見せてくださいませんか。」, the hidden subject is \"you\". With \"Verb + ください\", the\nsubject is the listener. This is polite speech.\n\nIn 「それを見せていただけませんか？」, the hidden subject is \"I\". With \"Verb + いただく\", the\nsubject is the speaker. This is humble and polite speech.\n\nTo answeer your questions, we do not really use one form more frequently than\nthe other. In general, however, 「それを見せていただけませんか？」 would sound more polite, so\nit would be considered too polite to use within your [内]{うち} group -- your\nfamily, bosses, colleagues, etc.\n\nWith your [外]{そと} group, it would not sound too polite; in fact, it would\nsound just right. That group includes strangers, people from other companies\nthan your own, teachers, etc.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T05:45:57.527", "id": "14014", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T05:59:10.793", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-03T05:59:10.793", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14011", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "Generally speaking, yes, there is that assumption in our minds, but this\ncustom rarely, if ever, causes problems when the older woman addressed as\nおばあさん by a stranger actually turns out to be someone who has never had a child\nin her life. That is because it is likely that she herself has been addressing\nany older lady おばあさん since she was little.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T05:32:59.993", "id": "14013", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T05:32:59.993", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14012", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "There are many ways to do that. I will only introduce the patterns most often\nused by us native speakers. Note that to do this in Japanese, it will\nbasically take two separate sentences. In informal writing, however, one could\nget away with combining the two into one by replacing the period after the\nfirst sentence with a comma.\n\n1) 「A sentence. なぜなら～～～からです。」\n\n2）「A sentence. ～～～からです。」\n\n3) 「A sentence. というのは～～～からです。」\n\n4) 「A sentence. ～～～という理由からです。」\n\nTo express \"I had this thought because ~~.\", you could say:\n\n「XXXと思いました。（なぜなら/というのは）～～からです。」or\n\n「XXXと思いました。 ～～という理由からです。」", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T11:20:46.750", "id": "14017", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T11:20:46.750", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14015", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Yes, there is:\n\n> X のは Y からです。\n\nSo your specific example could be naturally expressed as:\n\n> そう思ったのは～からです。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T00:54:33.113", "id": "14031", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T00:54:33.113", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "14015", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "`ツケ` means don't pay by cash, but loan\n\n<http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1246939582>", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T11:39:19.357", "id": "14018", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T11:39:19.357", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3227", "parent_id": "14016", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "つけ/ツケ is a regular word, not a slang one. I know exactly what it means but am\nnot too sure how to say it in English. \"Tab\" maybe? You keep an account at\nyour bar and pay monthly or something. The word comes from the verb [付]{つ}ける\nwhich means \"to enter (numbers in an account)\".\n\nツケがきく means you (are permitted to) keep a tab. きく＝効く\n\nRegarding the bribe, it is saying that the workers bribed the 事務所の係長 to have\nhim negotiate with the bar so that the workers can keep a tab and have the\ncompany pay for it from their wages periodically.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T12:19:09.720", "id": "14019", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T12:19:09.720", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14016", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "One difference is in place of usage. As you may know, a typical pattern (with\ncertainly plenty of uncorrelated exceptions) is for \"natural\" Japanese words\nlike いきなり to be favored in oral/informal contexts, whereas imported 漢語 appears\nmore often in written/authoritative contexts. If you use 漢語 all the time in\nyour speech, your friends may tell you you sound like a book ;)\n\nExamples (from \"hard\" written language to spoken):\n\n * 現在 -> 今\n * 柔軟性の高い -> 柔らかい\n * 不得意 -> 苦手 (here it matters that にがて is pronounced with 訓読み)\n * 流暢 -> ぺらぺら\n * 迅速 -> 速い\n * 遭遇する -> 遭ってしまう\n * 到着する -> 着く\n * 運搬する -> 運ぶ\n * 切断する -> 切る\n * 驚愕 -> 驚き\n * 教育方法 -> 教え方\n * 構成 -> 成り立ち\n * 翌日・明日《みょうにち》 -> 明日《あした》\n\nThe above all mean something _slightly_ different, but can replace each other\nin most cases, changing the tone.\n\nWith that in mind, 「いきなりなんなのよ！」 「急に寒くなったね」 (oral) and 突然、雨が止《や》んだ。(written)\nwould I think be representative uses for each of these words.\n\nAs for \"sudden in an almost overwhelming manner\", I think you can get that\nfrom any of these three.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T03:47:00.277", "id": "14033", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T20:42:46.187", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-04T20:42:46.187", "last_editor_user_id": "3131", "owner_user_id": "3131", "parent_id": "14020", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 }, { "body": "いきなり is casual and very colloquial.\n\n突然 is more formal, seen in writings often but still fine for colloquial use.\nSame as いきなり in meaning.\n\n唐突 is the same as 突然 but used with human behavior, not inanimate objects,\ntrains, astroids, etc. Example: 唐突なカミングアウト (unexpected and sudden coming out\nof a person about something).\n\n急に is focused on sudden in meaning, nothing to do about surprise.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T10:17:50.120", "id": "14036", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-14T02:32:41.263", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-14T02:32:41.263", "last_editor_user_id": "1808", "owner_user_id": "1808", "parent_id": "14020", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "I'm not sure I agree with the formality distinctions since I hear all of them\nused in a variety of situations, but that is neither here nor there. As I\ndon't have a true native's insight I will cite some materials produced by\nnatives on the subject.\n\nThis question is succinctly answered in [this alc\nentry](http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?sn=92). To summarize, it says the\nfollowing:\n\n * They all mean roughly the same thing, and in the sentence 「子どもが○○飛び出してきた」 any could fill the blank and be acceptable.\n * In the sentence \"第一問からいきなり詰まってしまった。\" いきなり cannot be replaced with either of the other two. There is a nuance here of beginning an action without proper precaution, of starting something without the expected timing or process. The others do not have this nuance.\n * For the other two, consider the sentence バスが突然急に停まった。 急に describes the way in which an action is carried out. 突然 on the other hand can be thought of describing what's going on (出来事の生じる様子 as the article states it).\n\nThat difference is a little abstract and hard to understand though, so I will\ncite some examples from the explanation [written\nhere](http://nihon5ch.net/contents/bbs-study/old/mie-bbs.cgi?s=189):\n\nThese sentences can naturally use both:\n\n> 例１１）急に／突然 雨が降ってきて、あわてて建物の中に入った。 \n> 例１２）さっきまで楽しく歌っていたと思ったら、急に／突然 泣き出した。\n\nThe following feel more natural with 急に rather than 突然:\n\n> 例１３）花子は中学に入って、急に背が伸びた。 \n> 例１４）彼がコーチになって、あのチームは急に強くなった。\n\nThe explanation provided is that 急に represents something that changes in a\nshort time while 突然 is something unexpected that happens quickly. In 13 and 14\n突然 _could_ be used, but since getting taller or a team getting stronger are\nmore of a process of change (変化の過程), 急に is better. To quote fully, they are\nsummarized as this:\n\n> 「急に」：状況／事態の変化の仕方に焦点を当てる \n> ※変化の過程も、一瞬の事態の成立にも使える \n> 「突然」：予想外の事態の成立に焦点を当てる \n> ※一瞬の事態の成立にのみ使える\n\nAnd for my last copy/paste job, one more example:\n\n> 例１５）娘が（急に／突然）病気になった。 \n> 「急に～」：短時間のうちに、健康な状態から病気の状態に大きく変化したことを伝える。 \n> 「突然～」：何も前触れがなく、病気になってしまったことを伝える\n\nSo your daughter suddenly got sick. With 急に it means that she went from a\nhealthful condition to an unhealthy condition in a short period. With 突然 it's\nlike saying she suddenly fell ill as if out of nowhere.\n\nI'm not exactly sure how they want to reconcile this idea of a process of\nchange with the acceptability of the sentence \"急に飛び出した.\" It could be that\nthere is generally an overlap but in _certain contexts_ these nuances kick in.\nDictionaries don't provide much help since they all have each other in their\ndefinitions. Ultimately they're all basically the same and you probably don't\nneed to worry too much about looking dumb if you make a mistake or something.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-14T03:11:07.923", "id": "14170", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-14T03:34:17.380", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-14T03:34:17.380", "last_editor_user_id": "1797", "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "14020", "post_type": "answer", "score": 10 } ]

[ { "body": "You're parsing it wrongly. It's not the verb やつす, but the noun やつ and the verb\nする.\n\nキス - kiss \nって - colloquial form of という \nやつ - in this case やつ simply means \"thing\"\n\nSo we have \"thing called a kiss\" so far.\n\nして - te-form of する \nみたかった - from みる which attached to the te-form of another verb means to try\ndoing something \nな - emotive final particle\n\nPut it together and you get \"wanted to try doing\".\n\nSo a very literal translation would be:\n\n> I wanted to try doing that thing called a kiss\n\nYou might have been confused because there is no を particle between やつ and する\nbut these particles are often omitted in casual speech.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T17:35:59.923", "id": "14023", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T17:35:59.923", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3010", "parent_id": "14022", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You have it backwards. 〜くださる is the honorific version of 〜くれる.\n\n〜くれない is a tiny bit softer than 〜ください (since it's negated), but in terms of\nshowing respect, 〜くれない actually less polite -- do not use it with your boss.\n\nSomething worth pointing out though, is that 〜くれない could be more appropriate\nin some situations where the extra respect actually makes things overly\ndistant and as a result, somewhat rude or odd (for example, when talking with\nfriends or subordinates).\n\n(As for 見せて vs 見して, you are correct that 見して is slang, generally not used in\nwriting but by some people in speech.)", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T19:07:48.637", "id": "14026", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T19:07:48.637", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "14025", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "1. As Darius said, 意味する.\n 2. You can also use ～と言う意味合いがある (nuance)\n 3. As explained at [goo.jp](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/leaf/jn2/191938/m1u/%E5%90%AB%E3%82%81%E3%82%8B/), you can also use ～と言う意味を含める to emphasize the subtle aspect of the nuance: 「風刺的意味を―・める」\n 4. More concretely, you can say ～のことを指す (indicates).\n\nThis might be acceptable, therefore:\n\n> 英語には「アルコール」とか「リカー」という言葉がありますので、「酒」という言葉を使うときは、「日本酒」のことを指しているのです。", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-03T21:48:56.840", "id": "14029", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-03T21:48:56.840", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3131", "parent_id": "14027", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "The most simple method I was always taught was when giving a definition or\nfurther explanation to a term to use ～という意味だ, ということだ, or という意味がある\n\nFor example,\n\n「名所は特に有名な所ということです」 「武士道は侍の尊敬と礼儀を表し方ということです」\n\nI know that there are other methods out there, but it seems that for what\nyou're trying to do this might be the simplest and most direct path.\n\nAs the other response mentioned, 含む (to include) might be a useful verb to\nhave on hand here to suggest that when discussing _sake_ that meaning is\nalready included.\n\nTo directly translate the example that you were discussing, I might say\nsomething like this: 「酒はアルコールが入っている飲み物という意味がありますが、ある時に酒の意味に日本酒ということも含みます。」", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T00:05:39.810", "id": "14060", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T00:05:39.810", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4428", "parent_id": "14027", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "Adding to the other answers, I think you can also use the ...と言う意味, or\n「...」って言う意味 form.\n\n```\n\n AはBという意味ですか？\n \n Do you mean that A is B?\n \n```", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-07T06:56:44.960", "id": "14092", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-07T06:56:44.960", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4450", "parent_id": "14027", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "「22攻撃ポイント」 is how I would phrase it, and if it means anything, I am a native\nspeaker.\n\nIt looks awkward to use a particle like 「の」 in a short phrase like this, and\n\"20 2\" is just not a possibility.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-06T00:19:47.343", "id": "14072", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T00:19:47.343", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14034", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "1) General observation. \"People ain't no good if they ain't no good.\"\n\n2) OK, except it does not say \"incredible\" in the original.\n\n3) TBH, I do not know if you attempted at an extremely free translation or you\nsimply did not understand the original. It is difficult to comment on\nsomething like this (particularly, if the former is the case).\n\nMy own TL (mostly literal) : \"I'm talking about the old broads nobody else\nwould take no notice of and I even give them a territory for the minimum union\ndues!\"\n\n4) Excellent.\n\n5) Great.\n\nMy answer to your question at the bottom would be \"context and collocation\" .\nYou would just have to read extensively and become able to predict what words\nor phrases are likely to follow.", "comment_count": 4, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T13:21:49.070", "id": "14043", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T13:21:49.070", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14037", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "It is an admonition, not a strict imperative (command). It says that a man of\n五尺 (five feet) must be brave, to 乗り出せ ( _ride out_ or perhaps _lean out_ ) 波の上\n(over the waves).\n\nI feel that the tenor of the command is more like Horace Greeley's published\nquote of J. B. Soule's hortatory advice, \"Go west, young man, go west.\" Not\n\"do it now\" but \"aspire to do it.\"\n\nPerhaps a better analogue (note: _not_ a translation of the above, just a\nparallel mood of exhortation):\n\n> Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood and probably\n> themselves will not be realized. — [Daniel Burnham, Chicago\n> architect](http://www.ontko.com/pub/rayo/burnham.html)", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T13:57:53.543", "id": "14045", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T14:02:54.970", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-04T14:02:54.970", "last_editor_user_id": "85", "owner_user_id": "85", "parent_id": "14041", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "* どんと is defined by 大辞林 as 思い切り and 力いっぱい, so it indicates a strong will/decision.\n\n * 「乗り出す」means \"to go and ride (over the waves)\".\n\n * チョイー is a variation of ちょっと (though im not totally sure if this is the case here).\n\n_\" If you are a man of bravery, with your five Shaku long body: Go ride in all\nyour will, over the waves, come on!\"_\n\nAs a side note, 乗り出す can also mean \"to lean forward\", usually seen as \"身を乗り出す\"", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2023-04-20T19:34:17.100", "id": "99410", "last_activity_date": "2023-04-20T19:34:17.100", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "56216", "parent_id": "14041", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]

[ { "body": "If you had the original kanji, it'd be more clear, but as Robusto [mentioned\nin the comments](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/14044/what-is-\nuchi-in-goro-uchi#comment30246_14044), the うち in your sentence likely refers\nto \"home\" instead of \"around\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-26T08:10:33.847", "id": "14294", "last_activity_date": "2014-11-03T05:47:05.983", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:43.857", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "162", "parent_id": "14044", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "## Your examples\n\n 1. `私は犬が殺す` is very weird semantically, but technically valid. You translated wrong on two accounts: a) it's not in past-tense, b) the function of は is different than what you are thinking:\n\n> 私は犬が殺す \n> Lit. \"As for myself, dogs kill me\" \n> Lit. \"As for myself, dogs will kill me\"\n\nThe only time that would it would make sense to say this is if you are\niterating through a bunch of different people explaining how they are or will\nbe killed, and then finally you get to yourself and as \"as for myself, dogs\n(will) kill me\".\n\nHowever, `ネズミは猫が殺す`, using the same structure, is somewhat less weird:\n\n> ネズミは猫が殺す \n> \"As for mice, cats kill them.\" \n> \"As for the mice, the cats will kill them.\"\n\nAs in -- \"(We are talking about a bunch of different things, and moving on to\nthe mice...) as for the mice, the cats will kill them.\"\n\nHowever, my feeling is that this is sort of an awkward construction in\ngeneral, compared to using the passive for it.\n\n 2. `私は犬を殺す` is totally fine & natural in Japanese, but you translated it wrong.\n\n> 私は犬を殺す \n> \"I kill dogs\" \n> \"I will kill a/the dog\"\n\nThis sentence is not past-tense, which would be `私は犬を殺した`.\n\n## The general explanation\n\nYou have the general right idea that **something marked by は can fall either\ninto the subject or object position depending on what is already in the\nsentence.**\n\nHowever, what you are missing is that **if the は-marked word falls into the\nobject position, the は indicates that there are some other objects being\ndiscussed as well.**\n\n(Also, I feel like this was perhaps not what you were asking about with your\nquestion, but make sure to review your tenses, because you got that wrong with\nboth sentences.)\n\n## Technical appendix: contrastive は\n\nA は-marked item can serve either as a subject or as an object. When it serves\nas a subject, it can optionally have contrastive semantics. When it serves as\nan object, it _must_ have contrastive semantics.\n\n**Critically, in the case は gains contrastive semantics, the thing being\ncontrasted is the entirety of the sentence to the right of the は.**\n\n> ネズミは猫が殺す \n> nezumi-ha [neko-ga koros-u] \n> mice-CONTRASTIVE.OBJECT [cat-SUBJECT kill-PLAIN] \n> \"As for mice, cats kill them... (as for some other animal, another thing\n> kills it)\"\n>\n> 猫はネズミは殺す \n> neko-ha [nezumi-ha [koros-u]] \n> cat-TOPIC.SUBJECT mice-CONTRASTIVE.OBJECT [kill-PLAIN] \n> \"Cats kill mice... (but cats do not kill some other animal)\"\n\nThe is to say, something contrasting 猫が殺す is _another thing killing_.\nSomething contrasting 殺す is just _not killing_.", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T17:57:51.573", "id": "14050", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T18:13:06.557", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-04T18:13:06.557", "last_editor_user_id": "3097", "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "14046", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "It is the emphatic も that is used frequently in Japanese. It emphasizes the\nword or phrase that immediately precededs it. In this case it is 身のほど知らずに that\nis being emphasized.\n\n身のほど知らずにも = \"not having the slightest idea who they are (or 'what position\nthey are in')\"", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T23:10:28.400", "id": "14055", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T23:10:28.400", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14047", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "It's just a literal \"this too\" in the example you gave.\n\n> 今の文学青年はセンチメンタルになることを怖れている。\n\nThis is what we're talking about. Young readers don't like to get too\nsentimental. This concept is what we're referring to in the next sentence with\nこれ.\n\n> これ _(=センチメンタルになることを怖れていること)_ も傷つけられるのを怖れる一種のさもしい心のあらわれかも知れない。\n\nSo this idea of fearing the sentimental may be a lonesome expression of fear\nof being hurt, to offer a simple translation. The も is implying that there's\nbeen another mention of these manifestations of those fears, or at least that\nthe reader is familiar with them, and this is referred to as 一種. So there are\nmore of these concepts; this just happens to be one of them.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T18:13:01.827", "id": "14051", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T18:13:01.827", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "14049", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "I can only speculate, but Japanese (and Chinese which it is copied from) was\ntraditionally written from top to bottom, so many characters are \"optimized\"\nfor writing in this direction. Both `|` and `_` are fine to end a character in\nthe bottom, so the next one can be started without too much moving. That\nexplains why character in left column is ended with `|`.\n\nAs for the character in the right, it feels smoother (try it with hand,\nimagine to have a brush in it) to write it as presented - you do not need to\ngo up too much (if it was written as the left one, you would need to get up\nlonger after the middle `-`).\n\nBut it is just a sort of 'reverse engineering' from the fact of the top-down\nwriting direction. Maybe kanji stroke order has some more complicated and more\nformalized rules.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T21:26:47.047", "id": "14053", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T07:56:38.643", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-06T07:56:38.643", "last_editor_user_id": "1127", "owner_user_id": "1127", "parent_id": "14052", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 }, { "body": "If you compare these two links:\n\n<http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=2831> for 牛 and\n<http://www.vividict.com/WordInfo.aspx?id=2512> for 生\n\nyou can see how these characters have evolved over time.\n\nBasically, 牛 starts as the image of the face of a water cow with its horns. so\nthe down stroke came last. Conversely, the life image emerged from 屮 and 土 at\none point during its evolution so you write the parts that come from the top\nhalf first which means you wind up doing the down stroke as stroke 3 and then\ntwo horizontal strokes after that.\n\nSometimes these historical artifacts of how to write it are better preserved\nin Japanese than Chinese (esp. compared to mainland China).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-04T23:51:51.813", "id": "14057", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-04T23:51:51.813", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "14052", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "There are many such exceptions. A nice example occurs already with the first-\ngrade kanjis for \"left\" and \"right\".\n\n\n\n\nHere it makes some sense, because you write the first two strokes of \"left\"\nfrom the right to the left, while you write the first two strokes of \"right\"\nfrom left to right, even though they look exactly the same. See also\n<http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/stroke-order.html> for further examples. I don't\nknow if it is possible (or helpful) to find an explanation for each exception.\nBtw, does somebody know which authority determines the \"correct\" stroke order?", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T13:46:05.160", "id": "14068", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T13:46:05.160", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4443", "parent_id": "14052", "post_type": "answer", "score": 0 } ]

[ { "body": "In these phrases, の and が are indeed 100% interchangeable as far as\ngrammatical correctness is concerned.\n\nNative speakers, however, often prefer using の because to us, の simply sounds\nsofter and nicer than が. In \"properly spoken Japanese\", the 「が」 in phrases\nsuch as [人気]{にんき}が[高]{たか}い and [柔軟性]{じゅうなんせい}がある、should be pronounced using\nthe velar nasal G instead of the accute G used for the 「が」 in 「[学校]{がっこう}」\nand「[外国]{がいこく}」. In other words, using 「の」 saves us the trouble of producing\nthe velar nasal or producing the accute G by mistake.\n\n<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVTrteqg_e4>\n\nMy first-grade teacher was particularly strict about the two G sounds in\nJapanese, so I could \"discuss\" this even after so many years, but when I tell\nJapanese-learners about this, 95% of them usually have no idea whatsoever what\nI am talking about.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T00:25:29.130", "id": "14061", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T00:25:29.130", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14056", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 }, { "body": "Historically が and の had a much closer relationship. This relationship can\nstill be observed in some modern words like 我が国, \"our country\". In this word が\nis a genitive marker and basically has the same function as modern Japanese の.\nIn modern Japanese が and の can't be used interchangeably, but の can still\nreplace が in modifying clauses. Because languages don't like redundancy,\nthere's still a **difference between が and の as the subject marker of a\nmodifying clause**.\n\n> [...] It is because **が emphasizes the word before it** that this subject\n> marker is frequently softened in modifying clauses by replacing it with **の,\n> a modifying particle that throws your attentions ahead**. [...] (From: Jay\n> Rubin (1998) Making sense of Japanese, Kodansha International)\n\n清水さん **の** 拾った財布はここにあります\n\nBy marking the subject of the modifying clause with の, you are saying \"the\nwallet Mr Shimizu picked up is here\" and its being here is more important than\nits being picked up from Mr Shimizu.\n\nの implies that the information in the main clause is more important than the\ninformation in the modifying clause. が doesn't imply the opposite though, it's\nmore neutral.\n\nThe closest thing you can do in English is using a rising intonation.\n\n清水さん **が** 拾った財布はここにあります The wallet that (rise intonation) Mr Shimizu! (lower)\npicked up is here. - The implication being the wallet that is here is the one\nMr Shimizu picked up.\n\n清水さん **の** 拾った財布はここにあります The wallet that Mr Shimizu picked up is here.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T02:07:02.820", "id": "14064", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T02:26:20.900", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-05T02:26:20.900", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4442", "parent_id": "14056", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "It's true that 〜(ら)れる is often referred to as a \"passive\" form because that's\none of its main uses, but it has other uses as well. They can be divided into\nfour categories:\n\n * 受身 - passive _(most common)_\n * 可能 - potential\n * 尊敬 - honorific\n * 自発 - spontaneous _(least common)_\n\nThis is an example of the **potential** use of 〜(ら)れる, here inflected to the\nnegative 〜れない, meaning 〜することができない. You can see this reflected in the English\ntranslation in the word \"can't\":\n\n> 月10万円では済まさ **れない** 。 \n> I **can't** make do with 100,000 yen a month.\n\nHere, 済まさ **れない** means 済ます **ことができない**.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T09:48:40.033", "id": "14066", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T09:58:50.710", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-05T09:58:50.710", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14065", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "「[甘]{あま}い[蜜]{みつ}」 is seldom used to mean what it literally means --- \"sweet\nhoney\". Instead, it is generally used metaphorically to refer to instant\npleasure or satisfaction that is often used as a trap or lure. That is what\nthe phrase means in your sentences #1 and #3.\n\nIn #2, 甘い蜜 is used for a meaning that is kind of close (but not exactly) to\nits literal meaning. There, it means \"the sweet reward\".", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-05T23:56:51.723", "id": "14071", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-05T23:56:51.723", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14067", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "甘い蜜 has two metaphorical meanings, aside from its literal meaning (\"sweet\nhoney\"):\n\n 1. the negative sense: \"tantalizing trap\"\n 2. the positive sense: \"sweet reward\"\n\n> 1) たまに甘い蜜を与えて、また暗闇に落として……。 \n> \"Slowly allure, even further into the darkness...\" _(meaning 1)_\n>\n> 2) 結局、甘い蜜を吸うのはいつだって上の連中だけ。 \n> \"In the end, the rewards are always reserved for the brass.\" _(meaning 2)_\n>\n> 3) お前をそそのかし、甘い蜜を与え、そして最後には堕落させてやる。 \n> \"I will entice you, tempt you, and in the end, pervert you.\" _(meaning 1)_", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-12T23:10:37.840", "id": "14159", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-12T23:10:37.840", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "14067", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 } ]

[ { "body": "This phenomenon is called\n[onbin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Onbin) “euphonic\nsound change”, specifically _u_ -onbin,\n[ウ音便](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%9F%B3%E4%BE%BF#.E3.82.A6.E9.9F.B3.E4.BE.BF),\nand in this case consists of ひと → うと ( _hito_ → _uto_ ), or びと → うど ( _bito_ →\n_udo_ ) with _rendaku,_ in some cases combined with vowel changes (these are\nthe same you see in modern forms of historic kana spellings).\n\nThe basic native reading (kun'yomi) is _hito_ (there’s also _ri,_ as in\n[一]{ひと}[人]{り} _hito-ri,_ [二]{ふた}[人]{り} _futa-ri_ ); with _rendaku_ this may\nbecome _bito._\n\nIn the case of [素人]{しろうと}, originally [白人]{しろひと} (white person, for\n“inexperieced”), this underwent しろひと → しろうと, _shirohito_ → _shirouto_ →\n_shirōto_ (note that _ou_ → _ō_ is not reflected as a change in kana).\n\nIn the case of [狩人]{かりゅうど}, this underwent かりびと → かりうど → かりゅうど, _karibito_ →\n_kariudo_ → _karyuudo_ → _karyūdo_ – note the additional vowel change.\n\nAn example that includes a familiar sound change is [仲人]{なこうど} “matchmaker”,\nfrom なかびと → なかうど → なこうど ( _nakabito_ → _nakaudo_ → _nakoudo_ → _nakōdo_ ).\nThis underwent the あう → おう ( _au_ → _ou_ → _ō_ ) sound change you’re familiar\nwith in [お早う]{おはよう} (from _hayaku_ → _hayau_ → _hayou_ → _hayō_ ).\n\nThere are many more details at Wikipedia, both in English and Japanese!", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-02-02T15:19:50.050", "id": "14378", "last_activity_date": "2014-02-02T15:26:27.550", "last_edit_date": "2014-02-02T15:26:27.550", "last_editor_user_id": "4625", "owner_user_id": "4625", "parent_id": "14073", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 } ]

[ { "body": "Without looking at anything, I would have to say that 「しりぞけ」 would be the most\nnatural choice. If it were どけ, ひけ or のけ, a good writer or translator would\nhave written it in hiragana.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-06T09:50:55.427", "id": "14078", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T09:50:55.427", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14074", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "To address younger kids in your school, you use their names and nicknames. You\nDO NOT address them as [後輩]{こうはい} unless it is jokingly done (and it is rarely\ndone).\n\nHowever, younger kids can address YOU as [先輩]{せんぱい} either all by itself or by\ncombining it with your family name like [山本先輩]｛やまもとせんぱい｝.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-06T09:38:14.503", "id": "14077", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T09:38:14.503", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14075", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "Well, I can again only speculate, but if they say it did not have `/h/` but\nhad `/ɸ/` and nowadays it have `/h/`, it have probably evolved from that\n`/ɸ/`. When _I_ played with my mouth and tried to say /hɯ/, with stiff lips as\nthe Japanese /ɯ/ is to be pronounced, than I get a sound which resembles\nrather /ɸɯ/. So, maybe it is ok to try to say /hɯ/, you say /ɸɯ/ anyway, if\nyou are a living human being, just Siri isn't ;-)\n\nBut that's just my speculations.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-06T22:14:45.760", "id": "14083", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T22:14:45.760", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1127", "parent_id": "14081", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "▼ is for kanji that don't appear _at all_ on the\n[常用漢字表](http://www.bunka.go.jp/bunkashingikai/soukai/pdf/kaitei_kanji_toushin.pdf).\n\n▽ is when the kanji appears on the chart, but the word uses a reading the\nchart does not include. Their example of `雄叫び` marks `叫` this way because the\nofficial chart only includes the readings キョウ and さけぶ for that kanji.\n\nThe 付表 referred to is part of the 常用漢字表 as well (see page 154 of the PDF\nlinked above). It contains readings such as 当て字 and 熟字訓 which are assigned to\nentire compounds rather than individual kanji. For example, the reading かわせ is\nassigned to the entire compound 為替. These are marked with 《》 in 大辞林.\n\nYes, [2][0] refers to two possible accent locations. (second mora and\nunaccented).", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-06T23:32:55.260", "id": "14084", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-06T23:37:55.567", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-06T23:37:55.567", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14082", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "[結構]{けっこう} is an extremely often-used word meaning \"fairly\", \"pretty (much)\",\n\"to a (great) degree\", etc.\n\n結構くせがある means \"to have pretty strong or peculiar habits\"\n\nくせ ＝ [癖]{くせ} ＝ habit\n\nLastly, [結構人]{けっこうじん} has nothing to do with 結構くせがある. It means a \"very likable\nperson\".", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-07T00:48:01.647", "id": "14088", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-07T00:48:01.647", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14085", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "You're probably be confusing つ and っ. In other words, it's not さつき you're\nseeing, but さっき.\n\nThe small っ is not, however, silent: it creates a slight pause between さ and\nき, meaning words like さっき and さき, or 活気 (かっき) and 下記 (かき) are not homophones.", "comment_count": 11, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-07T00:56:23.650", "id": "14089", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-07T00:56:23.650", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "4039", "parent_id": "14086", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "As a nonnative I'm not 100% sure I'm nailing the tiniest nuances correctly\nhere, but here goes anyway.\n\nThe word ちょっと I think is taught as a way for lower level Japanese students to\ndeal with a wide variety of situations without having that broad of a\nlinguistic repertoire to handle specifics. That said, if you respond to\nsomeone's invitation just by saying ちょっと, the point will get across, although\nit is not necessarily the most polite way in this situation.\n\nTo get to the meat of your question first, basically if you want to refuse\nsomething extra politely you can just state your reason, but the intonation is\npretty important. Like, あ、すみません、土曜の夜はもう予定が入っていて・・・ you can leave off the\n行けないです or ちょっと無理です or whatever and just end it on the て form, but you need to\nsound sorry about it!\n\nIf it's someone you're familiar with, it should be no problem just casually\nsaying that you can't do something and give a reason.\n\nNow, to make a note on ちょっと: I don't think it's _wrong_ per se, but it's not\nwhat I would call polite either. More neutral or even distant depending on the\ncircumstances, like \"I can't/don't want to and that's all I really care to say\nabout the subject.\" For that reason it may be hard to ask someone _why_ if\ntheir response is just ちょっと.\n\nI could be wrong about the negativity part, but I do associate ちょっと by itself\nwith some more negative usages. For example, if someone does something dumb or\nunpleasant, you could say ちょっと！ to mean like \"hey!\" or \"cut it out!\" Or you\ncan also use ちょっと to say that something is a little _off_ or unusual in a\nnegative way, like 「昨日上司が私のお尻を褒めたよ。」「それはちょっと・・・だね」 I think it's pretty close\nin English to saying \"that's a little.. yeah,\" to use the previous example.\n\nYou don't need to avoid ちょっと, but it's best used in conjunction with other\nthings. To my ears saying something like 「それはちょっと無理かもしれないです」 is pleasantly\nvague with a tinge of regret (depending on tone of course but yeah) whereas\n「それはちょっと・・・」 is a little colder and potentially condescending, as if to\nsuggest it's strange.\n\nAt the end of the day you're a foreigner and people will trip over themselves\nto accommodate your poor Japanese (even if you're speaking fluently many\npeople still treat you as though you're speaking in 片言 and simple/wrong\nspeech...). The ultimate piece of advice I can give on the subject is that\nforeigners don't _need_ to concern themselves with the nuances here since I'm\nsure you would never be misinterpreted as being rude when it wasn't your\nintention.\n\nAnyway this got a little ramble-ful. If I'm wrong about anything please let me\nknow and I'll edit or scrap the answer entirely.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-09T07:01:01.690", "id": "14111", "last_activity_date": "2019-07-04T03:38:22.787", "last_edit_date": "2019-07-04T03:38:22.787", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "14087", "post_type": "answer", "score": 8 }, { "body": "As @TokyoNagoya was commenting, the word ちょっと is not _per se_ polite (i.e., it\nis not [敬語]{けいご}).\n\nAt the same time, it is often taught to foreigners as a useful part of\npolitely refusing. Thus,\n\n> それは[無理]{むり}です。\n\nis more impolite as a refusal than:\n\n> それはちょっと...\n\nor\n\n> それはちょっと[無理]{むり}です。\n\nBut more polite than would be:\n\n> [申]{もう}し[訳]{わけ}ないですが ...\n\nAnd with this or the ちょっと construction, you can preface it by saying something\nlike:\n\n> 行きたいですが、... + それはちょっと OR 申し訳ない\n\nYou can then explain a reason, but giving reasons is impolite in a lot of\napology contexts in Japan, i.e. if I am late to work, I should just apologize\nfor being late but it can look worse if I make excuses about trains, etc.\n\n* * *\n\nBut I think part of the rest of what you are writing might show some confusion\nabout how it is supposed to work _politely_. Depending on the context of the\nrefusal, part of the point of someone saying それはちょっと... is that they don't\nwant to directly say no and challenging them by asking why would be highly\nimpolite.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 4.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-09T07:22:52.687", "id": "14112", "last_activity_date": "2019-07-04T03:41:30.997", "last_edit_date": "2019-07-04T03:41:30.997", "last_editor_user_id": "9831", "owner_user_id": "4091", "parent_id": "14087", "post_type": "answer", "score": 6 } ]

[ { "body": "It's a little tricky since it's using two expressions that seem like they\ncould be one thing but are another. We may be able to think of\n[思える](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%80%9D%E3%81%88%E3%82%8B?dic=daijisen&oid=02582900)\nas its own word, meaning basically what you'd expect, to feel something will\nbe a certain way. Then take it in the てならない structure, which in this case\nmeans \"can't help (feeling this way)\" (and not the \"have to\" meaning we can\nsometimes get from ～て（は）ならない). It's like \"no matter how I look at it I can't\nsee it being any other way,\" そのように思えて仕方がない.\n\nBut it's a [kind of set\nphrase](http://eow.alc.co.jp/search?q=%E6%80%9D%E3%81%88%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AA)\nanyway, so if you just remember 思えてならない as its own unit meaning \"can't help\nbut feel,\" you'll be fine. 思えてならない (in plain form) even has its own edict\nentry!\n\nSo with that in mind, we can reinterpret that sentence as saying:\n\n> However, I can't help feeling that humanity won't fall so easily.\n\nOr, you know, something along those lines. You may want to review the てならない\ngrammar pattern to help you keep it separate from the しなくてはならない. The latter\nalso usually has a は in it, and I feel might more commonly be phrased with\nいけない (but don't quote me on that one).", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-07T06:37:54.490", "id": "14091", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-07T06:37:54.490", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "14090", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "_The following answer is based on information taken from an earlier answer\nwritten by Tokyo Nagoya, which has been deleted by the author._\n\nAs you point out, 春夏秋冬{じゅんかしゅうとう} is a reference to the four seasons, and in\nthe case of 春夏冬中, 秋 has cleverly been left off (and a 中 added). Your intuition\nabout the あきない part meaning that there is no autumn is correct. When you add\nthe 中{ちゅう} at the end you get あきないちゅう, which is a homophone of 商い中. This is\nsynonymous with 営業中{えいぎょうちゅう}, or \"in business\"/\"open.\" It's a kanji pun\nsaying that his business is open.\n\nSo we go 秋がない→秋ない→あきない→商{あきな}い＋中", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T04:07:08.107", "id": "14098", "last_activity_date": "2014-02-13T04:14:17.067", "last_edit_date": "2014-02-13T04:14:17.067", "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "1797", "parent_id": "14093", "post_type": "answer", "score": 9 }, { "body": "The content below is an exact copy of [a deleted\nanswer](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/14094/3437) by [user\nl'electeur](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/4032/l%c3%a9lecteur).\n\n* * *\n\nThis is based on the premise that it is a pun. DO NOT read seriously because\nif it is not a pun, this will be the wrong \"answer\".\n\nNormally, we say (and we often do) 「[春夏秋冬]{しゅんかしゅうとう}」 to refer to the four\nseasons, but we have a 春夏冬中 here ---with no [秋]{あき} and an additional 「中」.\n\n秋がない---＞秋ない---＞あきない---＞[商]{あきな}い\n\n商い means \"business\", \"trade\", etc. And we still have a 中 to think about.\n\n商い中（あきないちゅう） means \"We are open.\" as you can see below. 「[営業中]{えいぎょうちゅう}」 is\nits synonym.\n\n[http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=%E5%95%86%E3%81%84%E4%B8%AD&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8](http://image.search.yahoo.co.jp/search?p=%E5%95%86%E3%81%84%E4%B8%AD&aq=-1&oq=&ei=UTF-8)\n\nSo, 夜ト is saying that he is open for business.", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2015-01-22T15:54:51.107", "id": "21408", "last_activity_date": "2015-01-22T15:54:51.107", "last_edit_date": "2017-04-13T12:43:44.397", "last_editor_user_id": "-1", "owner_user_id": "3437", "parent_id": "14093", "post_type": "answer", "score": -1 } ]

[ { "body": "1. 〜き is the classical form of the 連体形 of 形容詞. Sound changes caused き to turn into い for the modern 連体形 (and 終止形).\n 2. 〜き works exactly like 〜い in modern Japanese, except it can't be at the end of sentences, it can only be in relative clauses: ○高き壁、ｘ壁は高き\n 3. No, any 形容詞 can end with 〜き in classical (or pseudo-classical) Japanese.\n 4. いと is: \n * an adverb (副詞), not a prefix -- it can modify any adjective (in any conjugation) and any verb\n * archaic (いとも being the closest word used in modern Japanese), so it'd be unlikely to see it mixed with an 〜い ending (as opposed to classical endings 〜き, 〜し, etc.), but honestly there are no rules for creating pseudo-classical Japanese text, so someone could decide to use いと with 〜い if they felt that it gave the right feel to their text.\n\nI would certainly not recommend using either the 〜き ending or いと yourself.", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T03:35:41.200", "id": "14097", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-08T05:32:24.987", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-08T05:32:24.987", "last_editor_user_id": "3097", "owner_user_id": "3097", "parent_id": "14096", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 } ]

[ { "body": "First, there is a grammatical mistake. Your first sentence needs to use `が`,\nnot `を`.\n\nAs for the difference, a literal translation should make it clear.\n\n> きのうテストがありました.\n\nThis means, \"there was a test yesterday.\"\n\n> きのうテストをしました。\n\n\"Yesterday, (I) tested.\" Note this seems a little incomplete. For this\nsentence to work, we'd need to know the context of what was tested. It could\n_maybe_ be an answer to a question, something like, `実験の結果はいつテストをしましたか？` But\nI'm told that's a little awkward.\n\nIn any case, if you wanted to say you had taken a test yesterday, and\nemphasize your participation, as opposed to the simple existence of the test\n(which is what your first example does), you would say something like\n`昨日、先生にテストされた`, which is, \"yesterday, (I) was tested by my teacher.\"", "comment_count": 11, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T09:42:11.270", "id": "14100", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-10T05:02:12.480", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-10T05:02:12.480", "last_editor_user_id": "119", "owner_user_id": "119", "parent_id": "14099", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "Your first sentence is almost grammatical. It has one big problem, though: ある\ndoesn't take a direct object (marked with を). If you replaced it with が, it\nwould be grammatical with the intended meaning:\n\n> 昨日{きのう}テスト **が** ありました。\n\nI think in this context you could also say 試験{しけん}:\n\n> 昨日[試験]{しけん} **が** ありました。\n\nAlternatively, you can use the verb 受{う}ける, saying you _took_ a test rather\nthan _had_ a test:\n\n> 昨日テスト **を** 受{う}けました。\n\nNotice the を here rather than が, because テスト is the direct object of 受けました.\n\nYour second sentence is grammatical but テストをする wouldn't be my first choice to\nexpress having a test. I think that phrase would be more likely if you were\ngiving someone else a test than taking one yourself.", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T10:02:21.870", "id": "14101", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-08T10:02:21.870", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14099", "post_type": "answer", "score": 7 } ]

[ { "body": "I might not have thought of all situations, but I don't find the two verbs\ngenerally interchangeable.\n\n含む means \"contain\" or \"include\", i.e.\n\n> 水が鉄分を含む the water contains iron 料金は消費税を含む the price includes consumption tax\n\nthe subject 含める is an animate agent who includes something into something\nelse, i.e.\n\n> 私は名前をリストに含める I include the name in the list\n\nAlthough the same verb is used for \"A includes B in C\" and \"B includes C\" in\nEnglish, the two usages are different, if you really think about it.\n\nIf 含める is synonymous with anything, I'd say it's 含ませる, the causative of 含む.\n\nComments on your examples: Although understandable, I don't find \"水が鉄分を含める\"\ngrammatical. As for \"郵送料を含んだ5,000円だった\", are you using the past tense instead\nof \"含んで\" for some reason, or is it a typo?", "comment_count": 1, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-09T00:34:56.343", "id": "14108", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-09T05:31:39.480", "last_edit_date": "2014-01-09T05:31:39.480", "last_editor_user_id": "1073", "owner_user_id": "1073", "parent_id": "14103", "post_type": "answer", "score": 5 } ]

[ { "body": "It means: Can I have it?\n\nPossible nuances:\n\n * Can I have it all?\n * Can I have it even though I don't really deserve it in particular?", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T16:15:13.920", "id": "14105", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-08T16:15:13.920", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "107", "parent_id": "14104", "post_type": "answer", "score": 2 }, { "body": "It's a contraction of もらってしまってもいい(ですか). The しまう in there sort of indicates\nthat the speaker is asking for it despite knowing that they might not be the\nintended recipient (though it doesn't necessarily imply the existence of any\nspecific intended recipient).", "comment_count": 0, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T16:49:10.190", "id": "14106", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-08T16:49:10.190", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "3639", "parent_id": "14104", "post_type": "answer", "score": 4 }, { "body": "Despite the \"look\" of the phrase, it is generally NOT a way to ask permission\nif said by a native speaker. It is a rhetorical question where the speaker is\nalready giving herself (Isn't the speaker a woman?) permission as she utters\nthe line.\n\n\"Can I take it (or even \"him\") home?\"", "comment_count": 2, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-01-08T21:23:26.303", "id": "14107", "last_activity_date": "2014-01-08T21:23:26.303", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": null, "parent_id": "14104", "post_type": "answer", "score": 3 } ]

[ { "body": "According to wikipedia,\n\n> 日本語においては、漢字とかなの混用によって語の切れ目を表示するため、かつては借用語を含め自立語は全て漢字表記する傾向があった\n\nI.e. if they are written in hira-kana/kata-kana, it would be difficult to\ndiscern where the word starts/ends. Nowadays however, kata-kana has taken over\nthis function. 当て字 are still useful though as they are more compact than the\nkata-kana counterpart. Newspapers tend to prefer 当て字 for this reason; e.g. USA\nis referred to as 米 instead of the more lengthy form アメリカ", "comment_count": 3, "content_license": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "creation_date": "2014-02-25T13:06:47.813", "id": "14612", "last_activity_date": "2014-02-25T13:06:47.813", "last_edit_date": null, "last_editor_user_id": null, "owner_user_id": "499", "parent_id": "14109", "post_type": "answer", "score": 1 } ]