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3 answers

Verb for "adjusting" glasses?

I searched jisho and found 整える but doing a google search for メガネを整える came up with practically no results so I feel that it's not the appropriate verb. メガネを繕う came up with more hits, is that the right one?
Daniel_L
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Less-approximate and more-approximate forms of loan words

When Japanese incorporates a Western word, especially English, often the spelling rather than the pronunciation is respected in the transcription, thus, ending up with a transcription that is not the closest possible within the limitation of…
user458
12
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2 answers

How can I thank somebody for pointing out my mistakes?

Thanking and apologizing in several forms is essential in a Japanese working environment. I currently have the following list that I have picked up from mails amongst my Japanese coworkers but I'm curious what could be other examples to do…
wallyqs
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2 answers

Is there any rhyme or reason to hiragana?

I'm just beginning to learn Japanese. The grammar and kanji I can follow along thanks to similarities with Korean, but the hiragana is confusing the heck out of me. There seems to be no pattern at all whatsoever, even in letters that look very…
user3932000
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"y"-sound insertion after intervocalic ん

The pronunciation of intervocalic ん is a topic by itself, with the surrounding vowels tending to become nasalized, and ん itself maybe being pronounced as a nasal vowel. But that's not what I'm asking about here. In 千円{せんえん}, I sometimes hear a…
dainichi
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2 answers

How to choose between a na- and a no-adjective form of a word that takes both?

I came across the expression あいにくの天気. According to the dictionary あいにく can be a na-adjective, an adverb, a noun and a no-adjective. So, why is の used in the above expression (instead of な)? In this and other such words that can be both…
user18849
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4 answers

What is とは、のが、のは、には、 へは　and では？

Someone told me that these aren't actually particles, but they're separate particles put together. I vaguely have an understanding of には and では but it's とは、のが、 and のは that confuse me a lot. I heard that とは means with? Why are these particles…
user1087
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2 answers

Passive vs. active form of verb (past) What is the difference?

I was wondering what the difference is if I use passive form or active form of a verb. For example: ネズミは猫に食べられた。The mouse was eaten by the cat. 猫は、ネズミを食べた。The cat ate the mouse. What EXACTLY is the difference between those two? In what situations…
user1087
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What is the meaning of あるある?

I saw it used on Twitter several times, but googling around I couldn't figure it out. Here are some examples. "@mao_sid: 24あるある。シーズン2ぐらいから、あのちょいちょい入ってくるデジタル時計いらないなぁって思いだす。" "@mao_sid: 24あるある。ジャックは忙しくなると基本、大統領以外にはタメ口になる。" "@mao_sid:…
language hacker
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2 answers

How to express vague amounts of time?

I'm having trouble figuring out how to express vague amounts of time in Japanese, such as some number of months or some number of hours. I want to use this in a context where the specific number is neither important nor known, but the factor of time…
atlantiza
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What's the difference between 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい}?

Both 世間{せけん} and 世界{せかい} seem to mean "world" in the sense of "a sphere of human activity or interest", or "a particular way of life", and that sort of thing. (As opposed to 地球{ちきゅう}, the literal globe of a planet we live on.) What is the difference…
Questioner
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What dialect is ！〜べ?

What dialect is それはねぇべ （それはないだろう）? It seems I hear it a lot from people from Chiba. Is it from a specific part of Chiba or even a wider area?
paullb
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Sentence level pitch accent for 標準語

I was wondering if anybody had any references (preferably freely available) or insights that explain 標準語 (or should I say 関東語) sentence-level pitch accent. I already have a dictionary which describes pitch accents on individual words, but there seem…
dainichi
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2 answers

Using 何を with intransitive verbs (eg 何をにやついているの?)

貴様、何をにやついておるのだ…？ What are you grinning at, you bastard? This sentence (asked in this question) seemed fairly natural and simple to me...until I realized にやつく is an intransitive verb. [×]彼は私をにやついた is ungrammatical. Instead, you have to say…
naruto
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12
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4 answers

What does 食べたいものを好きなだけ食べる mean?

食べたいものを好きなだけ食べる seems to be weird for me because in my understanding this sentence mean I just eat the food I like from the food that I want to eat The complete sentence is as follows. 糖尿病の人は美味しい食品があったとしても、制限があるため食べたいものを好きなだけ食べることができない。 Could…
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