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19
votes
3 answers
What are the differences between 広める and 広げる and between 広まる and 広がる?
I find the difference between 「広める (他動詞) 広げる (他動詞)」 and between 「広まる (自動詞) 広がる (自動詞)」 to be complicated.
Can someone explain?
alicef
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19
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3 answers
How do you read simple arithmetic equations in Japanese?
My dictionary (EN → JP) suggests to translate "Three multiplied by four is twelve" as
3 × 4 = 12
without giving a hint as to how to read this in Japanese.
How do you read simple arithmetic equations (involving only +, –, × and ÷) like the one…
Tobias
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19
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What are the general principles of using verbs to modify nouns (e.g. 焦げるトースト/焦げたトースト)?
In all the time I've studied the language, I've never heard or seen anybody even hint at whether the principles from a given language (like using “burnt toast” vs. “burning toast”) carry over, or if the language has its rules with how that works.…
Roy Fuentes
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19
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1 answer
Habitual aspect
My (poor) understanding of things is that there are two ways to get habitual semantics in Japanese:
use the dictionary form of the verb:
毎日、映画{えいが}を見に行く "I go to the movies every day."
use the -teiru form of the verb:
毎日、映画を見に行っている "I go to the…
Darius Jahandarie
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19
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1 answer
Passive form - The exact difference between を and が
I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite answer all my questions, so here goes.
Now, I am rather sure that this:
ケーキが食べられた
Means:
The cake was eaten. (by someone)
Now, recently I've noticed a few cases where the…
Daniel Safari
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18
votes
1 answer
Why "社会の窓" (shakai no mado)?
A few years ago I was told by a Japanese friend "社会の窓" (shakai no mado).
It was explained after some giggling that this is what is said to a man who has inadvertently left his fly open, and that it means literally "society's window".
So why use…
hippietrail
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18
votes
2 answers
What are the differences between「目的」and 「目標」?
Both「目的」and「目標」have a common meaning which is "goal", but what is the difference? When can we use one but not the other?
Birkan Aras
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18
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2 answers
Japanese don't learn kanji meaning only readings? Does it make sense for a kanji to have a key meaning to identify it?
As I understand it works like this. By the time Japanese kids enter first grade they have more or less decent vocabulary of words they know. So when kanjis are taught I can't even imagine how to tell in Japanese that, for example, 女 means…
dimadesu
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18
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2 answers
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
Examples:
の only: 普通、大勢
な or の: 初心、特別、特殊
Is there a way for us to tell if a 形容動詞 needs a の or な particle after it.. or is it just by brute force memory?
Btw my second…
Pacerier
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18
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3 answers
Does "敬語" (keigo) just mean "politeness" or is it a technical term specifically relating to Japanese grammar?
What is the difference between the Japanese term "敬語" (keigo) and the English term "politeness" (Specifically regarding language)?
I assumed politeness is more general covering things like "please" and "thank you" and that "敬語" (keigo) specifically…
hippietrail
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18
votes
2 answers
What exactly does an adjective stem + そう mean?
The other day I posted a picture of some food on Facebook, and I noticed that all of my Japanese friends were saying 「おいしそう」. I made a good guess to what it meant, but I wasn't certain what exactly they were saying. I've seen this stem+そう with other…
Miguel
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18
votes
6 answers
Why do Japanese speakers have difficulty pronouncing "L"?
Why is it that native speakers of Japanese have a hard time pronouncing "l"? Whenever a western word contains "L" I see that they pronounce it "ru", "ra", "ro", "ri", or "re".
user1873
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1 answer
How to use いかがですか？
So I've read that いかがですか means "How about it?" and "How is it?". So if I wanted to say, "How's the coffee?" would it be コーヒーはどうですか？ or コーヒーはいかがですか？
Also is there an "informal" way of saying いかがです?
dotnetN00b
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18
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2 answers
What's the difference between 上る、登る and 昇る?
According to jisho.org, they all have the same meanings, to climb, to rise, to ascend. Is that true? And do they have differences in usage?
小太郎
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18
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What is the difference between "河" and "川"?
I saw the first (河) used for "Hippopotamus", literally mimicking the Greek name (River Horse) but I expected to see 川 in its place...
Also, apparently you can use "河川" to mean river*s* (plural)?
But when would you use one and when the other? Or are…
p.marino
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