Most Popular
1500 questions
12
votes
2 answers
What's the difference between 腹切り and 切腹?
I need to add a body to submit my question, so I'll just say the Mortal Kombat seemed to believe that the term 腹切り (はらきり harakiri) was more appropriate for self slaughter (i.e., throwing a boomerang hat that cuts one's own head off); however, I…
Wolfpack'08
- 547
- 3
- 13
12
votes
1 answer
How to use ～に同意する to agree or disagree with a person?
A couple of times I've tried to say "I agree with..." or "he agrees with..." but I don't know whether I'm using 同意{どうい}する correctly.
In what ways should に同意{どうい}している be used? Also, which particles should be used? Can only に be used before 同意{どうい}する…
user666
12
votes
1 answer
How can verb て become an adverb?
I found a sentence
医者が「大丈夫ですか」と重ねて尋ねた。
with translation
The doctor repeatedly asked "Is it OK?".
As far as I know
The concatenation of て verb represents several actions which are done one after another. For example, 持って行く means "bring" followed…
Display Name
- 7,469
- 4
- 28
- 71
12
votes
2 answers
Difference 先 vs さっき vs 前
can someone pls explain the difference and usage of these words? I never saw an explanation on how to use them correctly. Right now, all 3 are just "(some time) ago, previous, before ..." for me.
Progga
- 223
- 2
- 5
12
votes
2 answers
The difference between 皮膚【ひふ】 and 皮【かわ】
What's the difference? I got told that 皮膚【ひふ】 only works for mammals (and humans), and 皮【かわ】 for other animals too.
Kdansky
- 1,236
- 2
- 12
- 25
12
votes
2 answers
Counter intuitive meaning of お開き
Apparently 開き means "opening" but お開き means "closure", which seems very counter intuitive. What is going on here? Are there any other similar cases in Japanese language?
kuchitsu
- 2,715
- 2
- 13
- 24
12
votes
3 answers
Can 誰にも be used in positive verb?
Most examples I read, 誰にも is always used in negative verbs. Is there a case in which 誰にも is used in positive verbs?
Display Name
- 7,469
- 4
- 28
- 71
12
votes
1 answer
Recognizing old Japanese handwriting
Can you please help me with recognizing this line in old Japanese handwriting?
As I suppose, this is:
? やき ？ っすれ ？ の二
but it's most likely that I am wrong
Julia
- 530
- 2
- 8
12
votes
3 answers
Why is this katakana not reversed?
Just saw this image about Nintendo on Kotaku:
Clearly the company name, description, and location are written in traditional right-to-left orientation. Even かるた is right-to-left.
So why is トランプ written left-to-right amongst the rest of the text?
istrasci
- 44,120
- 5
- 112
- 259
12
votes
1 answer
Understand the difference between [dictionary/ない + ようとする] and [volitional + にする]
I have come across a couple of concepts that seem relatively similar, but I would like an understanding on their differences, if any.
The first is the dictionary/ない form + ようとする. And the other is the conjugated volitional form (or よう form) + にする. I…
Naruto
- 293
- 1
- 5
12
votes
3 answers
よかろう - What does it mean? Where does it come from?
This is another question that's come from a 昔話。
We have the following section:
大きい箱と小さい箱がありますが、どちらがいいですか。
どちらも結構じゃが、どうしてもと言うのなら、小さいほうでよかろう。
I'm having trouble with the second sentence. My translation is:
どちらも結構じゃが - Either one is fine. - Here,…
Nathan Ellenfield
- 852
- 6
- 15
12
votes
2 answers
Proper form of なさる - なさります or なさいます
In Genki II (second ed.), page 168 we are given polite forms of some verbs, among them する with なさる. They have also written that some of them have irregular conjugations in long forms, among them なさる, which becomes なさいます. However, in tangorin.com…
Tribski
- 603
- 1
- 8
- 17
12
votes
2 answers
How to pronounce "R → ∞ " in a mathematical context
For example on this wikipedia page:
一方、右辺第二項は R → ∞ のとき 0 に収束するので、...
In English it would be something like "as R goes to infinity".
How would you usually read this in Japanese?
mihi
- 223
- 1
- 5
12
votes
1 answer
When to use 頂戴します instead of いただきます?
In rather formal situations, when would you use 頂戴します ?
I use いただきます all the time to express the fact of receiving something, but I just heard a colleague using 頂戴します over the phone.
If I understand well, this page suggests 頂戴します is when receiving…
Nicolas Raoul
- 8,650
- 3
- 30
- 78
12
votes
2 answers
嬉しい vs 幸せ. Which one to use in this case?
Both mean happy. 嬉しい is an i-adjective, and 幸せ is a na-adjective. If I want to say, "The happy boy studied at the library", which one should I use? The boy in the sentence is feeling happy at the moment.
嬉しい男の子が図書館で勉強しました。
or
幸せな男の子が図書館で勉強しました。
BJ Dela Cruz
- 1,229
- 12
- 20