Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [suffixes]

接尾辞. Endings which can be added to the end of a word and change its meaning or function in some way. Often divided into inflectional (屈折的) and derivational (派生的), although it's not always clear which category a suffix belongs to. Suffixes and prefixes are both types of "affix". Often referred to as 接尾語.

Examples of suffixes in Japanese are

  • ～さ as in 早い → 早さ (cf. En. -ness)
  • ～的 as in 一般 → 一般的 (cf. En. -ly)

See also

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Differences among -たら, なら, -と, -んだったら, -ば, etc

The Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?: 行くと 行ったら 行くなら 行けば 行くんだったら 行くのなら 行くとしたら 行くことになったら 行くならば p/s: Please add any other…
Lukman
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What does -komu (～込む) at the end of a word mean?

There are loads of words in Japanese which end in 込{こ}む, like 吸{す}い込む, 読{よ}み込む, 入{はい}り込む, 打{う}ち込む, 売{う}り込む, 送{おく}り込む, 押{お}し込む. How does adding ～込む change the meaning? What is the meaning that links all these words?
nevan king
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What is the difference between -さ and -み suffixes to make a noun out of an adjective?

For example, both 悲しさ and 悲しみ are glossed as “sadness” in JMdict. What's the difference? According to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, 〜み “is more emotive and concrete characterization of some state”, while 〜さ “describes, in an analytical…
pingish
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What is the usage of 〜げ and how does it differ from 〜そう or 〜っぽい?

How do these two differ, for example: 寂しそう vs 寂しげ 楽しそう vs 楽しげ 言いたそう vs 言いたげ 大人げ vs 大人っぽい（...？ Not sure if this one works.)
phirru
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"slightly/somewhat" の 「～[目]{め}」: Usage and limitations

I'm somewhat confused about the usage and limitations of the　～め　suffix that means "somewhat/slightly". I've only ever heard it on a handful of words: 大きめ 小さ目 多め 少な目 早め and maybe a few others that I can't recall at present. 1) Can these be used…
istrasci
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Meaning behind adding 'め' after someone's name?

I've come across this once or twice where people will say someone's name and then add 'め' in an irritable/victorious tone [e.g: ヒカルめ, マコトめ, etc.], but I've yet to find a textbook example explaining the reasons/meaning clearly. My latest scenario is…
user7541
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What is ~げに suffix actually?

Today, while looking up random words in WWWJDIC, I stumbled upon an example sentence for the word いとしい as below: 少女は人形をいとしげに抱き締めた。 The girl squeezed her doll affectionately. The sentence uses ~げに adjective suffix that I have never seen before.…
Lukman
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ち suffix I've never heard of before

Ok, so I've been reading よつばと recently, and I've been seeing a suffix coming up that I cannot seem to find a meaning for. It's not in any dictionary, and I'm not sure if it's a name suffix, or some obscure grammatical marker I've never heard before.…
KingPumpkin
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What's the reading of -中 as a suffix?

I see this all the time, but I don't know that I've heard it spoken. For example: インストール中 Is it simply "なか"?
Ken
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How to distinguish between passive and potential forms of the verb?

I've read that potential form of the ru-verb is formed by replacing る with られる, which is exactly the same for the passive form of ru-verbs. How can we tell the passive form and potential apart in this case?
minerals
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What is the origin of っこない?

There's a construction V+っこない which means something like "have no way of doing V". お前には分かりっこないでしょう。 There's no way you would understand. Is it known what this construction originates from? I can't find any reliable information either in Japanese…
jogloran
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"Do completely" suffixes (〜しまう, 〜きる, 〜ぬく) or verbs and their differences

What is the difference between (verbて) しまう (in it's "do completely" meaning), ( verbStem) きる, (verbStem) ぬく (if any)? In examples for しまう for this meaning it didn't seem to overlap with the "do with regret" or "do inadvertently" meaning. きる based…
NoxArt
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Usage of the suffixes 流, 風, 式, 的 and 様

If I was to put the suffixes 流{りゅう}, 風{ふう}, 的{てき}, 式{しき} and 様{よう} on the end of a noun etc, what would be the difference between them? I could be wrong, but the following all seem to me to mean something similar to "Japanese style" and I'm having…
cypher
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-的 adjectives modifying nouns without な

Am I correct in thinking that these are ok without a na: 1) 印象的な事実 2) 印象的事実 3) 客観的な事実 4) 客観的事実 But these need a na?: 5) 明らかな事実 6) ＊?明らか事実 7) 簡単な事実 8) ＊?簡単事実 (From a quick look, Google results count seems to support this). According…
melissa_boiko
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Is there a pattern to the usage of 〜的 on the end of words?

Sometimes I think it's more obvious when to use 〜的 as a suffix for example 国家 "nation/state" vs 国家的 "national", but in a lot of other cases I think the distinction might be more blurred, and they frequently translate to the same word in English.…
cypher
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