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25
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2 answers
What's the difference between くる and やってくる?
Can someone explain the nuance between them? They both mean "come", but I'm unsure of when they are interchangeable. My perception is that やってくる seems to put more emphasis on the actual action of coming (compared to the rest of the context, if…
istrasci
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24
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Volitional + と + Verb
(In this question, I will use "Volitional" to mean "V-(よ)う".)
As I understand it, Volitional + と + する is a phrase meaning "to try to do something". I've also seen similar phrases, but with different verbs instead of する. Here are some examples,…
user1478
24
votes
3 answers
Rules for slang of Japanese numbers
I often hear Japanese using a different method for saying a number like "248" as によんぱ — especially for highways and license plates.
While this one is easy to understand, there are others that I don't quite understand.
Could someone provide a list…
Mark Hosang
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Does 左様なら (sayōnara) have Chinese roots?
A related question: What does さようなら (左様なら) have to do with "left"?
The English-language A.Word.A.Day list this week is doing a "Words borrowed from Japanese" theme; today's word was sayonara. The etymology cited there says:
From Japanese sayonara…
MichaelChirico
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24
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What is the difference between その and あの?
Superficially, I get the sense that あの is for something far away from both speaker and listener, and その is for something closer to the listener than speaker. However, I seem to get in trouble when dealing with time and past events, so I'm wondering…
zakvdm
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When to read "その後" as "そのご", "そのあと" or "そののち"?
I've recently been seeing あと as well as ご as Furigana on top of 後 in その後, but is there a difference in usage or meaning between the different readings?
Looking at the Yahoo thesaurus, it seems it can also be read as のち. When would this reading be…
cypher
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24
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4 answers
Questions with ~か or without: how to choose?
Studying Japanese on my own, I've learned that in order to make a question, you usually add the particle "~か", like this:
今何時ですか。
It's also true that a question can be asked without it, using the rising tone of voice.
But then I found out that in…
Alenanno
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24
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2 answers
Why are police boxes labeled Koban (in roman letters) in Japan?
I understand that the word for police box is Koban or 交番 in kanji, but why is the signage always in roman letters - Koban.
My guess would be to make it easier for foreigners to read, but wouldn't they just put the English word instead - "police…
Mac
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24
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Difference between [行く末]{ゆくすえ}, 将来{しょうらい} and 未来{みらい}
I've been looking around and I got that the three words can mean "future". Is there a way to differentiate them? Can they be used the same way?
Ani
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24
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What are the main differences between 京都弁(Kyoto-ben) and 大阪弁(Osaka-ben)
These two dialects will sound very similar to an untrained ear. Can anyone highlight the main differences between these two dialects?
Ken Li
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24
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2 answers
What is the difference between "〜がる" and "〜がっている"
I want to know the difference between 〜がる and 〜がっている, and in what situations I can use them.
My friend said 〜がる is used for a regular activity that someone does every day or every week, and the person also wants to do that activity.
〜がっている is used…
A-letubby
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24
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2 answers
What is the etymology behind したっけ
僕だけがいない街 anime shows the children saying したっけ! translated as 'See ya!' and other terms, these are from Hokkaido dialect.
I guess you can switch したっけ to other forms to say 'See ya': じゃあまた また明日
Anyway, there's any relation with 明日? What is the…
sumitani
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24
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Five different verbs meaning "to close" with the same kanji (閉)
When using Google Translate for the verb "to close", among the many suggestions, there are five different verbs all with the same Kanji:
閉じる (tojiru)
閉ざす (tozasu)
閉める (shimeru)
閉まる (shimaru)
閉てる (tateru)
I can guess that the difference between 閉める…
Pedro A
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24
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What is the difference between 「食う」 and 「食べる」?
I've often seen 「食べる」 used, when should we use 「食う」 ? Are these two interchangeable ? Can you provide examples ?
Aki
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24
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まち: what's the difference between 町 and 街?
My impression is that 町 tends to be used for smaller cities and 街 tends to be used for larger ones. Is this correct? If not, what is the difference?
Kef Schecter
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