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1500 questions
16
votes
2 answers
What is the difference between なぜなら、だから、and なので？
I'm trying to get clarification on how to use these three pieces of grammar and whether or not they all hold some kind of "Because" meaning.
Myeong
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16
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2 answers
Difference between ”conditional” いい and 方がいい for providing recommendations
I've noticed that there are multiple ways of providing or asking for a recommendation in Japanese.
The sentence structures I'm talking about are as follows:
したらいい
すればいい
したほうがいい
In almost all situations I see these they get translated as…
Dan
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16
votes
8 answers
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?
Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
sterz
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16
votes
3 answers
Why do some Japanese people write parts of their name in hiragana?
I have recently noticed that one of my coworkers writes his surname partly in hiragana when writing by hand.
This strikes me as odd, because his surname doesn't have multiple readings (to my knowledge) and is made of relatively simple kanji. He…
Jasmine
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16
votes
2 answers
How to use 〜かのよう{に・な・だ}
I understand fine how to use 〜(の)よう{に・な・だ}, but I'm not sure when or how you can add in the か. Here's an example from my book:
４月になって雪が降るなんて、まるで冬が戻って来たかのようです。
How is this different than if it had just said 戻って来た(の)ようです? Is it purely adding more…
istrasci
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16
votes
2 answers
The correct usage of ～と決める, ～に決める, and ～を決める
Browsing the example of 決める, I found at least there are 3 patterns as follows:
行くと決めた。I decided to go.
行くまいと決めた。I decided not to go.
車を買うことに決めた。I decided to buy a car.
会議の日を決めた。I decided the meeting date.
Questions
Are my conclusions below…
Display Name
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16
votes
5 answers
Understanding the usage of もう with present tense verbs
I think when a lot of people first learn もう it's as "already', right? There's also the meanings of "anymore", "soon", "now", "more', "another" and its use as an interjection. That's a lot of meaning packed in one small word, I think, and personally…
FinS
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16
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1 answer
What's the difference between 「うまく」, 「上手に」 and 「よく」?
What's the difference between 「うまく」, 「上手に」 and 「よく」, all seemingly meaning "well" in English?
Someone said that I should use 「よく」 rather than 「うまく」 in the following sentence. Can anyone explain why?
この文の意味は うまく よく 分からなかった。
I'd really like to know…
cypher
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16
votes
3 answers
Is Japanese em dash equal to Latin em dash?
In Latin characters, we use — to represent the em dash (—) as follows.
My home town — a small castle town in San'in ...
However, if I use the same — in Japanese sentences, it looks like 一{いち} as follows.
私が生まれ育ったふるさと—山陰の小さな城下町・・・
It…
Display Name
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16
votes
3 answers
How to use ～先生 properly with co-workers?
I teach English at an elementary school in Japan. While working I normally call the teachers by their last name plus 先生. Like 田中先生 for example.
However, after work, let's say 田中先生 invites me to have a drink at an 居酒屋. Am I still expected to call…
johnny82
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16
votes
3 answers
Does "te-form" of a verb always include て/で? Why?
In so-called 学校文法 (the Japanese grammar which all native Japanese speakers learn at around middle school), one form of a verb is called 連用形 (aka continuative form), which looks like this (screenshot from 連用形 on Japanese Wikipedia):
As you can see,…
naruto
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16
votes
2 answers
"Should" in Japanese
The word "should" in English has these uses when not used as a question:
To express the expectation of the speaker (Probabilistic reasoning).
The train should arrive in 10 minutes.
To express a condition
Should it rain, the event will be…
Flaw
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16
votes
2 answers
Does the volitional form of a verb mean both "let's" and "I want to"?
I was taught ages ago that the volitional form of a verb means "let's" do something. For example, if you take 行{い}く and change it to 行{い}こう, you get "let's go".
However, I feel like I can use the same form to express "I want to". For…
Questioner
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16
votes
2 answers
いAdjective. difference between くて and く
Is it
太陽光線は暖かいけどまぶしく、肌に刺すようです
or
太陽光線は暖かいけどまぶしくて、肌に刺すようです
What's the difference between くて and く?
Apple
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16
votes
1 answer
Where does the verbal form しとく come from?
In a manga I am currently reading, one of the character exclaims:
安心しな。秘密に しとく から。
The general meaning of the second part ("I'll keep it a secret") is quite obvious, and it seems that "しとく" (ostensibly derived from し, with a suffix appended) has…
Dave
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