Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [quotes]

引用. Questions about Japanese quotations, or about the grammar of quotation.

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When to use だ before と思います?

If you want to state what you think you can put と思います at the end of a sentence. However I noticed that sometimes you're supposed to put だ before と思います so that it becomes だと思います, and sometimes you're not. How do you know when to put だ before と思います…
language hacker
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Do Japanese people use quotation marks for emphasis?

I came across this tweet today: Is this the least confidence-inspiring use of inverted commas ever? The English part of the sign has "Safe" and "Comfortable" in inverted commas, and the Japanese part likewise has "安心" (relief, peace of mind) and…
Andrew Grimm
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と、て、って　Quoting Particle Usage

と、て、って What's the difference between these three quoting particles? Is there any grammatical difference, or are they just casual/formal variations of one another? 田中さんは行きましょうと言った 田中さんは行きましょうて言った 田中さんは行きましょうって言った Would all three of those…
Shane
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Can I use suffixes (な、ね、さ、わ...) before と思う?

I always hear ～なぁと思った, but I don't know if it comes from: 食べるかなーと思った。 or like きれいだなーと思った。 or 寒いなーと思った。 I think this sound　なーと思う is so relaxing and so nice, that I want to use it. But actually I would like to know how is used and where. Related to…
daniel tomio
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Is this って equivalent to 「と」?

Is the って in the following sentence equivalent to 「と」 as in AはBと変わる／違う? 昔から好きな曲って変わらないみたい。 My favourite songs have not changed for many years. Does this mean it is equivalent to the と used for quotations.
Tim
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Making sense out of Japanese proverbs

I was never able to make any sense out of the following Japanese proverbs or idiomatic expressions: 豆腐の角に頭をぶつけて死んでしまえ。 'Hit your head against a corner of a cake of tofu, and die.' ...の爪の垢を煎じて飲む。 'take extract from one's dirt/wax under the nail, and…
user458
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Telling the speaker apart from the person being spoken about

A recent question about the usage of quoted speech contained this interesting sample sentence: ハイリアの民は、ふしぎな力を あやつることが、できたと言います。 Often when I read this kind of sentence, I wonder if ハイリアの民 is part of the quoted sentence, or the actor doing the…
waldrumpus
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The past tense for the quoting particle って

I have this sentence in front of me 耳元で男の人の声がするのが耐えられないって which is translated as: she said she couldn't stand hearing a male voice near her ear. If I am right, here, って is actually translated as "said" which makes me realise, I am only familiar…
Quince Blossom
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What is the original Japanese for "It's always the darkest under the lighthouse"?

What is the original Japanese saying meaning, "It's always the darkest under the lighthouse"? (reference)
missingfaktor
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Using both と and を with the verb 言う？

I've recently been reading Tobira and there was a sentence that I was really having trouble finding exactly what was going on in it. そして、「どこに住んでるの？」と「い」を言わなかったり、「どこ、住んでるの？」と「に」を落として言ったりすると、もっとくだけた感じになります。 I think I figured out the meaning which I…
mattb
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What does 「父なる砂漠」mean?

There is a line in the 「この涙 星になれ」, which is a song of ZARD (Sakai Izumi): 父なる砂漠 コイン投げて 明日を占おう I don't understand the meaning of 「父なる砂漠」. It's quite strange to think of it as the desert that has been a…
ShinyaSakai
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〜と考えている at the end of a sentence

An example sentence from NHK Easy (source) 政府は、日本に住む人みんなにマイナンバーカードを作って、健康保険証の登録をしてもらいたいと考えています。 Reading NHK Easy, I frequently see sentences ending in 〜と考えています when it's clear that it's not meant to say "Somebody is thinking about ~". I figure…
frog
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The use of ただ and だけ together redundant?

ただ一つだけ守りたいものを最後まで守り通せばいい。 This quote comes from episode 9 of the anime Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and the English subtitles translate it as "Protect the thing you want to protect until the very end." However, ただ means "only" and だけ means...…
lightweaver
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"感動した！(like ex-primeminister Koizumi)" Where does this reference come from?

After showing a project to a Japanese coworker, he answered me the following: 感動した！、小泉元総理風 I found this amusing, but I couldn't get the Mr.Koizumi reference. Is there a story behind this?
wallyqs
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Function of って in this sentence

俺のことは、みんなと同じように親父とでも呼んでくれや。親父のように強くたくましく頼りになるってな。 Is the speaker quoting what other people have said about him?
lethal23
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