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1500 questions
25
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1 answer
Why is 私 a sixth grade kanji?
Can anybody explain why 私 is a sixth grade kanji?
I find it funny that such a common word appears on the list so late.
Omae wa mou shindeiru
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What's the original Japanese word for door, other than the loanword ドア?
I assume that ドア is a loanword from English, unless it's a big coincidence, yet, it's in the top 200 most used Japanese words by frequency, in a Japanese words by frequency list. What's the original Japanese word for door? Any idea why they switched…
Pablo
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4 answers
Can we have two thematic は particles in a sentence?
From what I understand, there are two types of は-particle:
The thematic-は (topic-marker) which is used to introduce things into the universe of discourse.
The contrastive-は.
jkerian states that:
There can be only one thematic は in a sentence.…
Pacerier
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What is the difference between 見える【みえる】／聞こえる【きこえる】 and 見られる【みられる】／聞ける【きける】?
In Japanese, there is a potential form to express that it's possible for something to be done.
My own examples of potential form:
辛【から】い食【た】べ物【もの】が食【た】べられる。 (I can eat spicy foods.)
ギターが弾【ひ】ける。 (I can play the guitar.)
But I also know of 見【み】える…
atlantiza
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3 answers
Will verbal irony and sarcasm be understood and/or appreciated?
It's a topic of debate to what extent Japanese has sarcasm and irony. In any case, Japanese speakers seem to use a whole lot less of it than English speakers.
My question is: whether or not Japanese speakers use it themselves, do they typically…
Jjed
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Difference between 重い and 重たい
In some situations everybody around me use 重い, and when I went to the bicycle shop everyone was only using 重たい.
Both mean heavy, but what is the difference in meaning or context between them?
Can something be 重い but not 重たい? Or 重たい but not 重い?
Nicolas Raoul
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What's the difference between 「いけない」 and 「いかない」?
I've just learned that ～わけにはいけない as in 断{ことわ}るわけにはいけない ("I can't refuse") apparently isn't valid but ～わけにはいかない is, even though I've been using the former frequently.
But what is the difference between いかない and いけない and when should they each be…
cypher
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1 answer
When is "na" used at the end of a sentence?
When is "na" used at the end of a sentence, is it like "ne" or "yo" and has no meaning really? For example:
Mata Nihon ni ikitai na.
また、日本に行きたいな。
Oskar K.
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"You don't have to be so polite." Really?
Sometimes a Japanese person will say to me:
そんなに丁寧な言葉を使わなくてもいいんですよ。
This is an invitation to be less formal. But how much less formal? As I have experienced, sometimes unintentional gaffes can be committed blithely as one learns to navigate the…
Robusto
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What is the meaning of のか and how does it differ from か?
What is the meaning of のか in the following sentences? Does it have the same meaning as のですか?
漢字はどう正しく書くのか、どう正しく読むのか、彼らは時々迷います。
参加するのか、参加しないのか、ここではっきり返事しなさい。
Also, I have found sentences of the same structure but instead of のか, they contain only か.…
Misaka
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3 answers
Usage of ～じゃん (～じゃない)
I'd like to know if I can put ～じゃん at the end of every adjective, if there are any exceptions to that usage, and if it's different from ～じゃない.
Adj (na) + じゃん
便利じゃん
便利だったじゃん
便利じゃないじゃん
便利じゃなかったじゃん
Adj (i) +…
daniel tomio
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Why is カラオケ (karaoke) written in katakana?
I noticed カラオケ (karaoke) is always written in katakana on signs/buildings in Japan, despite it being a Japanese word. Why is it not written in Kanji or Hiragana?
As I understand it, the usual reasons for using katakana are things like:
words with a…
drfrogsplat
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2 answers
Does the particle "を" (wo) have a special use when at the end of a sentence?
I thought the character "を" (wo) was only used for the particle whose only job was to indicate the direct object of a verb.
But today I saw it at the end of an exclamation on a sign I think on a shop:
西部に活力を!!
So what job is を doing here?
hippietrail
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3 answers
How to separate words in a Japanese sentence?
Unlike some languages (English, French, ...), written Japanese sentences don't have spaces between words.
I know that it is the same in Chinese for example, but the fact that the Chinese language only use one alphabet (hanzi) makes it easier to…
tama
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今までに vs. 今まで - what is the difference in meaning?
I recently used a following sentence in my homework:
今日までに 私は 二百まいしゃしんを とりました。
Now, in my homework I actually used 今日まで, without に, and I got it corrected. What's the difference between 今日まで and 今日までに?
liori
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