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Are Japanese "tenses" aspects in disguise?

I read a lot of posts here saying that Japanese has this thing called "aspects". e.g. Must I use past tense before 後? ありがとうございます vs. ありがとうございました I am confused with Japanese tense Since Japanese is heavily influenced by Chinese, which seems to only…
Sweeper
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ビル (biru) or 建物 (tatemono) as a translation for 'building' in Japanese?

I see there are two words for building in Japanese, ビル and 建物【たてもの】. Can someone tell me the difference and when I should use one or the other?
warrenG
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General expression for the age of something

I'm looking for a general way in Japanese to express the following: X is Y years old. I know for human age we use 〜歳 and I have seen other expressions for buildings and trees (don't remember them off hand). At least speaking about inanimate…
Locksleyu
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How to use the inflection "やがる"?

こんなくそみたいな帽子{ぼうし}かぶせやがって！ "こんな仕事{しごと}させやがって！" "こんなまずいものを食{く}わせやがって！" "あいつは本当{ほんとう}に良{い}いものを作{つく}りやがる" I was recently acquainted with the inflection "やがる," as illustrated in the examples above. Would it be right to describe it as a 活用形 (inflection)?…
yadokari
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[潔]{いさぎよ}い　meaning

Can anyone tell me more about 潔い? I've looked in Goo, Alc, Kenkyusha, and Edict, and the definitions refer to "sportsmanlike", "gracious", or "take it like a man". However, I'm doubtful if these are literal translations. My Japanese teacher gave me…
edwinbradford
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Can one say なそうです instead of だそうです when expressing hearsay?

At first, I thought the answer was simply that you can only use だそうです (because that's all I have ever seen), but today I read the entry for そう in the Handbook of Japanese Grammar (1940s) by Henderson (PDF via arxiv.org) and was surprised to see that…
Nicholas
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Meaning of イメージ in context of disclaimer

I saw a disclaimer at the bottom of a tourist brochure about ryokans, which in English was "The photo on this page is an image", and in Japanese "掲載の写真はイメージです。" At the end of the brochure, they had "Photos shown in the catalog are images to give an…
Golden Cuy
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Are honorifics used for dead people?

Are honorifics used for dead people? For example, would チンギス・カン have something after the name (presumably not just a mere さん!) when you're not referring to the dish?
Golden Cuy
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When should I use「かも」 versus 「アヒル」?

My Japanese friend uses the work ｢アヒル」when referring to ducks in a public park. However, another Japanese friend uses 「鴨」（かも）in similar situations. In English, as far as my limited knowledge of the animal kingdom goes, we just have the word "duck".…
neiljohnson
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When angry we shout "F***!", but what do 日本人 shout?

I have to ask, when you kick a Japanese boy in the nuts or whatever, ignoring the obvious sounds a human makes when entering into such a state, what bits of language will they impulsively shout in their anger. I ask this as in English we have a…
Tirous
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Stroke order for han-dakuten

Is there one? Or does it even matter? I personally start at the top and go clockwise. Just curious. Update: I realized the other day that the reason I start at the 12-o'clock position and go clockwise is because this is the same motion (more or…
istrasci
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Why do we believe that 神 is likely to be a loan from Ainu?

I recently read the document "Old Japanese Loanwords" by Frellesvig, where he states: OJ kamwi ~ kamu- 'spirit, deity' may well be borrowed from an ancestor of Ainu kamuy 'bear; deity'. Ever since I heard of the word "kamuy", I figured there was a…
senshin
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Function of the sentence final particle こと in this sentence

I am wondering what is the correct way to interpret the こと in this sentence: どこかへお花見に行きませんこと。 It is an example sentence found in the book "All About Particles" (page 120). It's described as being basically an alternative way to entice/invite…
Jan
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How to say regrets [I should not have X]

How in the world does this: 晩ご飯を食べるんじゃなかった。 translate as "I should not have eaten breakfast"? This roughly translates as "It was not that I eat breakfast."
Dekiru
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Is it appropriate to use [先生]{せんせい} when addressing a ski instructor?

Is it appropriate to use [先生]{せんせい}, either by itself or as an honorific after their name, when addressing a ski instructor? I'm not sure whether it'd be appropriate because: Using 先生 in this context may be disrespectful of other kinds of teachers,…
Golden Cuy
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