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votes
3 answers
What is the difference between 残念ながら and 残念なことに
I hear both 残念ながら and 残念なことに when expressing that something was unfortunate before the actual sentence, much like the English "Unfortunately, ...".
However, I'm not sure on where these two phrases differ. Is their usage the same?
phirru
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12
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1 answer
Difference between 「 ただ」, 「たった」, 「ただ ~だけ」, and 「ただし」
I translate these words as either "only, just, simply".
I'd like to know how I could differentiate these 4 ways (i.e., when I use that one, and when I use the other).
Examples:
たったひとつの恋 (Dorama)
ただの子供だ
ただ待つだけだ
よし, この 10 万円は君にあげよう. ただし,…
daniel tomio
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12
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1 answer
Usage of お+[verb stem]+する for humble form and お+[verb stem]+になる for honorific form
Apart from using verb-specific humble and honorific versions (e.g. 参る < 行く < いらっしゃる), the general method of turning a verb into humble is by using お+[verb stem aka 連用形]+する while the general method of turning a verb into honorific is by using お+[verb…
Lukman
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12
votes
1 answer
What form is 恐るる?
In Final Fantasy VIII, Bahamut has a little speech:
…G.F.とは我らのことか
我らを力として使うとは…
恐るるべきは人間どもよ
I'd never seen two るs doubled up like that. Which conjugation is this? It seems to have plenty of Google hits so it's not a typo, as far as I can tell.
sartak
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12
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1 answer
What is the difference between 良い and いい?
Consider the following:
良い yoi — 良く yoku
いい ii — よく yoku
When typing いい, IME offers 良い in the lookup table. It makes me wonder whether いい is just an alias of 良い but it is pronounced differently only in the dictionary form.
What is the difference…
Friendly Ghost
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12
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1 answer
Contraction of particle の to ん before nouns in colloquial Japanese
I am familiar with contraction of の to ん before です (and variants で, だ, でした etc) but I noticed that の is also contracted before 家 in spoken set-phrases like あたしんち and おれんち.
Are there any other instances where の is contracted before some particular…
Lukman
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12
votes
2 answers
What does the word 「ありゃしねえ」mean?
It is a situation which a salesperson announces to a group of people to attract them to buy his goods.
Here is the full sentence.
こんなお買【か】いどくはどこの世【せ】界【かい】へいったって ありゃしねえよ
George
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12
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2 answers
Why was 邪 chosen to spell the names of 伊邪那岐神 and 伊邪那美神 in the 古事記?
I had been wondering about this for a while. Consider the spelling of he names of Izanagi and Izanami in the 古事記:
伊邪那岐神【いざなぎのかみ】 and (妹【いも】)伊邪那美神【いざなみのかみ】
(source)
Both of their names use the kanji 邪, which, at least today, is associated with a…
blutorange
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12
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1 answer
can we omit verbs when speaking casually?
I've heard that we can usually omit nouns and stuff like that, but can we actually omit verbs or must they still be there?
Example sentence: アイツ帰るなり、すぐに部屋にな~
Edit
Can we omit verbs in the main sentence clause when speaking casually?
Example…
Pacerier
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12
votes
3 answers
ある or 持つ, what's the difference?
My textbook says ある can be used for possession, but further on it says 持っている is used for possession. Are both correct? Are there any differences?
When talking with a Japanese friend (in very limited and simple conversations), when I use ある, she…
Daniel
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5 answers
Can we use negative form before ~てしまう : f.ex. なく+~てしまう?
Using the form ~てしまう we mean, that something happened in a way we did not expect. But what if we use a negative form before the ~てしまう ending? Will it be also grammatically right?
For example:
昨日メッセージを書いていなくてしまいました。
Fara
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12
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1 answer
Ending sentence with ~だもの or ~ですもの
I've been listening songs and anime dialogues that end sentences with ~もの or even cuter version ~もん for so long that I am able to see how the word denotes reasons or excuses like:
おなか空{す}いたもん (when the character was asked why she finished the cake…
Lukman
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12
votes
3 answers
Do people actually ever say みょうにち?
I've heard people using あした (the common one) and あす (rather uncommon) to refer to "tomorrow".
I was wondering does anyone actually uses the reading みょうにち ?
Pacerier
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12
votes
2 answers
What is the Japanese term for a gamer?
As in "some one who plays video games". Could I just use ゲーマー?
Amplify91
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12
votes
4 answers
How do I look up this kanji?
I have found a kanji in a manga I am attempting to read, that looks like this:
I have tried to find it in numerous dictionaries, and used multiple different methods. I know the third section is a radical, but the first isn't, and searching the…
AlbeyAmakiir
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