Most Popular
1500 questions
17
votes
3 answers
How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう?
How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう ?
For example, in this sentence １０人中３人はビデオを持っている which pronunciation should we use?
What about this: そのピアニストの演奏中、彼らは一心に耳を傾けた。
Pacerier
- 11,872
- 4
- 54
- 125
17
votes
4 answers
What are the fundamental differences between the ～と一緒に and the ～とともに fragments?
I'm accustomed to saying together with using the ~ to issho ni fragment, but I've been noticing that some people I talk to phrase this using ~ totomo ni instead.
i.e.
彼女と一緒に日本へ来た。
Kanojo to issho ni Nihon e kita.
and
彼女とともに日本へきた。
Kanojo totomo ni…
Richard Neil Ilagan
- 273
- 2
- 7
17
votes
2 answers
Exceptional compounding forms
There are a number of Japanese words which have distinct compounding forms:
-a/-e alternation: 天・雨、酒、上、風、目 — many examples.
-u/-i alternation: 神（[神]{かむ}[集]{つど}ふ）、月（[月]{つく}[読]{よみ}）
-o/-i alternation: 木（[木]{こ}の[葉]{は}）、火（炎【ほのほ】）
-a/-o alternation:…
Zhen Lin
- 4,880
- 1
- 28
- 32
17
votes
2 answers
"雷{かみなり}" is thunder, or lightning, or both?
In daily conversation, " 雷 " means both the lightning and the accompanying thunder as a single phenomenon, right?
At night, I sometimes see lightning on the horizon, but no thunder. That is 雷, right?
All the time, I hear the thunder, but not see…
Wrythe
- 637
- 6
- 17
17
votes
3 answers
Where does the な in 大人 (otona) come from?
As far as I understand, the word 大人 (otona) uses the kanji 大 to represent お and the kanji 人 to represent と. According to this site the readings for 人 do not include な. Where does the な come from then?
Jorge Luque
- 283
- 1
- 2
- 8
17
votes
1 answer
Why is 島 used in the name of some cities?
I can understand "島" being used in 硫黄島 (Iwo Jima/Iwo To, literally "Sulphur island"), because it is an island, but why is it used in 福島市 (Fukushima city, literally "Good fortune island") and 広島市 (Hiroshima city, literally "Wide island")?
Golden Cuy
- 16,209
- 15
- 74
- 184
17
votes
1 answer
Meaning of ところ in アメリカのいいところ
I feel as though I understand what the below sentence means, but what I think it means makes no sense.
日本に行ったら、アメリカのいいところも発見できるかもしれないですね。
My translation: If you go to Japan, you might be able to discover good American areas.
Is my translation…
Richard Watson
- 433
- 3
- 7
17
votes
1 answer
Meaning behind adding 'め' after someone's name?
I've come across this once or twice where people will say someone's name and then add 'め' in an irritable/victorious tone [e.g: ヒカルめ, マコトめ, etc.], but I've yet to find a textbook example explaining the reasons/meaning clearly.
My latest scenario is…
user7541
17
votes
3 answers
Historical differences between colors that are i-adjectives and those that are simply nouns
EDIT: Started a bounty with hope of getting more definitive and elaborate answers, e.g. timeline of when color names started being used in Japan.
In Japanese language, there are colors that are i-adjectives: 青い, 赤い, 黒い, 白い etc.
Then there are…
Lukman
- 19,805
- 20
- 94
- 195
17
votes
1 answer
加える/増やす and 加わる/増える or even 増加する/殖/足, various kanji for "adding things"
I'm a bit confused regarding the choice between the 加 and 増 kanji for any meaning related to "adding one thing to another".
I assume that, as usual, the suru-verb combination 増加する is somewhat more formal than either of the other options.
I was told…
jkerian
- 4,916
- 3
- 30
- 55
17
votes
3 answers
What is the difference between 「けれど」 and 「けれども」 and 「けど」?
「けれども」と「けど」と「けれど」はいったいどう違うんですか。「けれども」はテレビ番組でよく使われているが、「けれども」は「けれど」より丁寧ですか。
English translation: What exactly do 「けれども」 and 「けど」 and 「けれど」 mean? They often use 「けれども」 on TV programs, but is 「けれども」 more polite than 「けれど」?
Ken Li
- 2,534
- 3
- 24
- 30
17
votes
2 answers
How to parse ～なくたって?
I've been running into verbs such as 言わなくたって recently. I found these sentences using a sample sentence search and it seems to be a stronger form of ～なくても
見てなくたっていいよ。
You don't have to stand over me.
そんなトゲトゲしい言い方しなくたっていいだろう。
You don't have to use…
oals
- 2,123
- 1
- 14
- 28
17
votes
1 answer
Can I insert hiragana in words I only know partially how to write?
This is a problem I encountered today. I had no idea how to decide what was the best course of action, and I only got the advice of a classmate (You're doing it WRONG) to confirm.
As I am still learning, I often stumble upon words that I only…
Urukann
- 2,736
- 12
- 21
17
votes
3 answers
Actual phonetic realization of "devoiced" vowels
Descriptions of Japanese phonology (such as Wikipedia's) usually describe high vowels between voiceless consonants (or word-finally) as "devoiced". For example, the pronunciation of ⟨圧⟩ 'pressure' and ⟨悲観⟩ 'pessimism' are described as:
/aꜜtu/ →…
Mechanical snail
- 994
- 8
- 24
17
votes
2 answers
How do I know when to read the kanji 抱 as 「だ・く」, and when to read it as 「いだ・く」, or even 「うだ・く」?
This sentence was in a grammar textbook:
彼{かれ}は同僚{どうりょう}にライバル意識{いしき}、ひいては殺意{さつい}すら抱いていた
... it means:
"He regarded his colleague as a rival, even to the point of
considering murder."
My question is about the last kanji, 抱. It seems to have…
Questioner
- 24,694
- 15
- 95
- 232