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1500 questions
13
votes
3 answers
When shouldn't I use 「〜さん」when referring to a third person?
In In actual Japanese society, how often are second-person pronouns used?, the accepted answer says:
You can either refer to a person by the name like 山田, which is not
(particularly) polite, or put a polite affix or a title after it like
山田さん…
muru
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13
votes
3 answers
No word for "time" until 1871?
In a German newspaper article an interviewed professor says:
For a long time the Japanese didn't have any interest in clocks: Until
1871, there hadn't even been a word for time and therefore no time
measurement.
(Original text:)
Auch die…
elzell
- 407
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- 10
13
votes
2 answers
Why is を used in this situation? 私は先生がネコを好きだと思います
私は先生がネコを好きだと思います
Why を and not が twice?
NibblyPig
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13
votes
3 answers
What is the difference between jibiki and jisho?
I see both of these words used to describe dictionary.
Can someone tell me the difference between these two?
Samantha J
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13
votes
3 answers
Why is water polite but ice not?
I was amused by, and interested in, this little sign on a water dispenser in a sandwich shop:
The options are that you can have ice only, ice and water, or just water.
What intrigued me was that water, 水{みず}, is preceeded by an honorific お, but…
Questioner
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13
votes
6 answers
知っているはずです is over complicated?
I would like to ask, "How many kanji are you supposed to know?" My best guess was
（漢字を）何字知っているはずですか。 I omitted 漢字 since it was in context
This was reviewed by a native Japanese speaker and I had it corrected to 何字知っていますか with the explanation that…
G-Cam
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- 36
13
votes
1 answer
What does this fish market banner say?
A friend has at home this banner from an old fish shop in Sapporo. I suppose it's a souvenir from Japan. It intrigues me a lot!
What's this の with an upper stroke and the ten-ten? What's the name for the place? Does the following make sense: ⻌の魚? On…
Jason Lint
- 315
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- 6
13
votes
2 answers
The different usages of ことがある
If I understand correctly, the main usages of ことがある seem to be the following:
Verb(plain)+ことがある: There are times when (I)
Verb(past)+ことがある: (I) have experienced (something) before
But after this question, I'm starting to wonder when ことがある means…
cypher
- 13,669
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13
votes
1 answer
Are Japanese counter words still being created?
That is, are counters (助数詞) an open class of words?
If yes: Is there an example of a counter that was added recently (say, post-Taishō) and is now in current use by a community of speakers (i.e. not a single writer)?
If no: When did new counters…
melissa_boiko
- 5,429
- 25
- 37
13
votes
3 answers
Business Japanese: what's the proper way to say "please visit [this URL]"?
I'm writing a business e-mail to a Japanese speaking person, and I need to direct them to a certain URL. In English I would write "please visit http://www.example.com". I'm not sure the best way to say that in Japanese. My best guess is something…
Joshua Carmody
- 358
- 3
- 10
13
votes
2 answers
Difference between 行ったから and 行ってから and 行くから
What is the difference in usage between 行ったから and 行ってから and 行くから?
Is there a sense of sequence implied in one and not the other?
In the following examples where would i be buying the book and where would i be saying this? Like in I bought the book…
Mark Hosang
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13
votes
4 answers
「とおり」と「ように」の違いは何ですか
I have a question about the difference between とおり and ように.
先生が言ったように、試験は難しかった
先生が言ったとおり、試験は難しかった
Melissa
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13
votes
1 answer
How to use 十分. Differences from ずいぶん、けっこう
while studying japanese grammar I bumped into this expression that I've quite understood, but it isn't clear to me enough yet. It's 十分 (じゅうぶん).
These are the phrases in which I've found…
Evee
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13
votes
2 answers
Would I have 牛乳 or ミルク with my cereal?
I've just found out that there's a couple of words for milk, and that they have slightly different meanings. Which one would I have with my Weetbix in a "viking style" breakfast in Niseko?
Based on the following links: JREF and Japan forum page 1…
Golden Cuy
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13
votes
2 answers
How is なっている different from なっていた?
I apologize if I am beating a dead horse with this question but is this correct?
なっている: have (already) become
as opposed to
なっていた: had become
so often the meaning of なっている can be thought of as "is" while なっていた can be thought of as "was"…
yadokari
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