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1500 questions
29
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4 answers
Is the Japanese word "pan" (パン) related in its origins to the Spanish word "pan"?
"Pan", in both Japanese and Spanish means bread. Is this purely coincidental, or do they have the same origin?
Pablo
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29
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4 answers
How can I tell if a Japanese person's given name is male or female?
I am hoping that there may be some particular kanji and/or sounds used in determining if a persons given name is male or female.
Jack Bosma
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What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?
I know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, but what are the differences or characteristics between katakana, kanji, and hiragana?
Are they used on a different context? Is one of them more formal than the others? Do they…
Madcowe
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Distinguishing certain characters in handwriting and print (Similar-looking Kana and Kanji)
Japanese has some sets of characters which look very similar or even identical. Obviously, context is usually more than enough to distinguish which character is intended, but I'm wondering if there are subtle differences which can be used to…
Zhen Lin
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29
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So-called の-adjectives - how does の *really* work?
Ok, so there seems to be some controversy over whether we can really say that there are 'の-adjectives', or whether we simply use a noun in an "attributive" way (a term which I don't actually really understand). But it's clear that there's something…
Karl Knechtel
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29
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When to use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい
When does one use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい? For example, in phrases like:
先生は野菜を食べて欲し｛いです・がっています｝。
My incomplete understanding is that the がる form is more formal/polite, but it can only be used when the subject is not currently present in the room. …
Mark Hosang
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Love in the air: 愛ｘ恋 {あい vs こい}
From WWWJDIC:
愛 【あい】 (n,n-suf) (See 愛する) love; affection;
恋 【こい】 (n) love; tender passion;
My understanding on affection, love and tender passion is like the following:
affection < love < tender passion
If I may line up all three in a spectrum…
Lukman
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Are there words so bad that they aren't allowed on television?
Warning: We're all adults here, but just in case, this question may contain words, in both Japanese and English, that some may not like to read.
A long time ago, when I was working with a translator, a native Japanese speaker, the term 気違い{きちがい}…
Questioner
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Differences between 勉強する、習う、学ぶ and 学習する?
What is the difference between 勉強する, 習う, 学ぶ, and 学習する?
I've read some explanations in another question but it's still not clear enough to me how they are different.
Nhu
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1 answer
Do Japanese writers use underline for emphasis?
Do Japanese writers use underline to emphasize a point, or other techniques? Wikipedia mentions the use of katakana in its article on Emphasis and in its article on Katakana, but I'm not sure whether it's appropriate.
Background: I’m incorporating…
Golden Cuy
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What's the difference between には and では
My book has these two sentences and I don't quite understand why they are using には in the first example and では on the second one. It seems to me that only では would be correct in this situation.
１）わたしの [学校]{がっこう} には アメリカ[人]{じん}の [先生]{せんせい}…
Julian
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28
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6 answers
How should I select what first-person pronoun to use?
I've always had trouble choosing which first person pronoun to use - 私 (watashi), 僕 (boku), or 俺 (おれ). What kind of factors should I keep in mind when choosing between these? Is it common to vary one's choice by the social context, or do people tend…
bdonlan
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How is the wind related to illness?
I've seen the kanji 風 appear in several different illnesses: [風邪]{«かぜ»} (a cold), [中風]{ちゅう・ふう} (paralysis), and [痛風]{つう・ふう} (gout). Conceivably there may be others, but I haven't seen them.
What does the wind have to do with any of these (aside…
istrasci
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What is the difference between ちょっと and 少し?
Specifically for when they mean "a little".
In what situations would they be used and are they completely interchangeable without any differences?
小太郎
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"太ってる猫" vs "太った猫"
I saw this sentence and its translation in a textbook
彼女は太った猫が好きじゃない。
She doesn't like fat cats
I was under the impression that 「太ってる猫」 means something like “cat that is in the state of becoming fat”, which basically means “fat”, so I was…
Pacerier
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