Japanese Language Stack Exchange
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"you know what?" or how to change your mind

What are some ways in which one can express "you know what?" expressions with a nuance of either "i've made up my mind" after debating something internally for awhile? I see that やっぱり or 実は are somewhat close but doesn't quite fit. For example A:…
frei
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Japanese dialogue attributions and English ways to translate them

I'm a JP>EN translator who mainly works on novels. I've been doing some research into dialogue attributions, their differences between languages, and ways to translate them effectively and naturally. I've identified a variety of types of dialogue…
Andrew Prowse
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Why is ば in this sentence?

そんなトコで何{なん}ばしよる。 I'm reading a manga and from the context of the pictures I think this sentence reads, "What are you doing up there," but I have no idea what part ば plays. The character speaks in a dialect so my confusion could be a result of…
Anthony Hardman
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Why are furigana for number kanji almost always omitted?

Here's an example sentence from 北斗の拳 which uses a fair amount of furigana throughout. xxxに残された命は三日... Which includes furigana for のこ, いのち, and, bafflingly, even the か of 日, but none for 三. While I already know that 三日 is みっか, there are plenty of…
sartak
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Japanese equivalent to ASAP

What would the Japanese equivalent to ASAP be? Would「急ぎでお願いします」be appropriate? 「すぐに」、「即に」just don't seem right.
Y12K
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What is the meaning of しも?

In a recent class, my Japanese teacher taught me the use of しも as something akin to a formal version of でも as in the following sentences: いつでも暇{ひま}じゃないんですよ。 いつしも暇{ひま}じゃないんですよ。 I was told the above sentences have the same meaning, varying only with…
yushi
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The grammar of ~かれ~かれ

Consider these: 遅かれ早かれ 良【よ】かれ悪【あ】しかれ What is the underlying grammatical make up of this ~かれ~かれ pattern (if any)? Is this pattern productive(i.e. can be extended to arbitrary words)?
Flaw
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The meaning of ～のみ

What is the meaning/significance of ～のみ? Does it have anything to do with 身 or 見? Some example sentences: しかし、予算の制限のため、差し当たり実験機のみを製造することになった。 But budget restrictions have allowed them to make only prototypes for the time…
cypher
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Where does the exclamation せ〜の come from?

I note that the exclamation せ〜の is quite frequently used, in a manner similar to how we use "ready, go!" in English. I'm curious about its etymology: where does せ〜の come from?
xuq01
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Understanding どうしたら

On the 100th anniversary of the first anime 東京国立近代美術館フィルムセンター said: どうしたらこのアニメがこれから１００年残っていくか考えてほしいと思います ??? We want you think about how these anime will be here 100 years from now. My translation is unnatural. I'm having trouble understanding…
user3856370
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Difference between 「～のない～」 and 「～がない~」?

For example, plugging these into Google, I can find stuff like, 自信のない人 and 自信がない人. Or, 愛のない生活 and 愛がない生活. I found a movie called 顔のないスパイ. How is this any different from 顔がないスパイ? I've asked Japanese people this, and the only answer I've ever…
CptSupermrkt
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Any books or websites dedicated to Japanese tech/IT language?

I work in IT in Tokyo, so most of what I do doesn't require interaction with our Japanese customers, but every so often we get that one phone call where someone wants something explained, and I can always make it through, but never at the level that…
CptSupermrkt
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Meaning and usage of やっぱり (矢っ張り)

I got "As expected" is the meaning of this word from Google Translate (is it correct?) and I guess this word is used in casual conversation (what is the polite version?). I would like to know it's meaning and usage(both is casual and formal…
MD TAREQ HASSAN
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Problems with は and が

Consider: [A] 猫が好きだ To me this means [A']"I like cats." Contrast this to: [B] 猫は好きだ To me this means [B']"I like cats (among other animals)" I based my understanding of [B] from Derek Schaab's answer to "What is the difference between “に” and…
Flaw
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What is the use of 〜ようとしている?

The sentence, from chapter 7 of the Tobira textbook, is 日本の[漫画]{まんが}は[欧米人]{おうべいじん}の本の読み方さえ変えようとしている, which I think from context should mean something like "Japanese manga even changed the way that Americans & Europeans read books," except that…
Boop
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