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31
votes
2 answers
How did 面白い end up meaning "Interesting"?
面 by itself means "face", while 白 by itself means "white". How did these two words combine together to mean "interesting"?
小太郎
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31
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3 answers
What's the difference between に and で when speaking of time of an action?
What's the difference between に and で when speaking of the time of an action? I know に is very specific about time, but I'm not sure when, or how to use で. Can で only be used in certain instances?
Supposing we want to say "After eating breakfast, I…
Miguel
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31
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2 answers
How to differentiate ～られる conjugation between passive form and potential form?
For verbs of group 2, whose ～ます form is formed by dropping the ending ～る from the plain form, both the passive and potential forms have the same conjugation: ～られる. Example:
食べられる
1. to be eaten
2. can eat / edible
Other than looking at the…
Lukman
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31
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3 answers
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕{ぼく} and if not why?
Grammatically speaking it shouldn't be an issue, but I have heard from some people that a non-japanese using 僕{ぼく} sounds really weird. Has anyone else heard this? And if so, is there a reason?
Mark Hosang
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31
votes
5 answers
Is it ok to use 電車 for non-electric trains?
電車 has the kanji for "electric" in it, but is it more or less ok to use it even for non-electric trains, such as steam trains? I saw a steam-powered train being used as the picture for that word in Duolingo.
Andrew Grimm
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31
votes
7 answers
How would one convey "get over it" in Japanese?
As a foreigner in Japan, one has to get used to the fact that some Japanese will compliment you on things that are too mundane to really deserve mention. Like the fact that you can use chopsticks, eat sushi, say 「今日は」, and all that sort of…
Questioner
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31
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5 answers
What is the meaning of all those "w"s in email and SNSs?
You see a lot of w and ww and even www in Twitter and casual chat. What does it mean? I've always thought it was わいわい but never found out. How is it pronounced?
Here's an example from Twitter
なんでじゃろうねwwとりあえず電車なうだから間に合いそう笑
nevan king
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31
votes
6 answers
Pluralization in Japanese: usage of -たち and -ら
I know that -たち and -ら pluralize the nouns they come after (or indicate a group that the noun is part of), but most of the time the plural in Japanese is implicit. When is it appropriate or necessary to use -たち or -ら?
(Bonus question: is there any…
Amanda S
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30
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3 answers
What's the difference between による, により and によって?
I don't understand when you use them and what the difference is between the three.
For example, when you say:
火事によって多くの森林が焼けてしまった。
今回の地震による津波の心配はない。
soga
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30
votes
3 answers
What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?
I know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, but what are the differences or characteristics between katakana, kanji, and hiragana?
Are they used on a different context? Is one of them more formal than the others? Do they…
Madcowe
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30
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3 answers
What does the use of a dash (instead of a character) to extend a sound mean?
I came across the sentence 混乱する気持ちもよーくわかる in my manga. I have translated it, but the use of the dash (which was vertical in the actual vertical text) stumped me for a bit (I thought it was よう at first, not よお). I was under the impression that a dash…
AlbeyAmakiir
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30
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1 answer
Rules or criteria for 連濁: Voiced or unvoiced syllables in compound words
Examples first.
空 {そら}.
Almost all compound nouns for which 空 is the second component pronounce it as ぞら zora:
青空 {あおぞら}
夜空 {よぞら}
星空 {ほしぞら}.
There is at least one exception though: 美空 {みそら}.
蕎麦 {そば}.
All compound nouns I found so far retain…
Lukman
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30
votes
5 answers
Why is it 日本語がわかります instead of 日本語をわかります?
From what I understand, は is the topic marker, が is the subject marker, and を is the object marker.
One of the first sentences I learned doesn't seem to fit the rules I described above. The sentence is:
わたしは日本語がわかります.
watashi wa nihongo ga …
Alan C
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30
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2 answers
What is the difference between "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う+とする"?
In Japanese there are words which mean "to try something or attempt at doing something", e.g. 試す, 試みる and つとめる.
However, at the same time we also have two grammatical constructions "verb＋て＋みる" and "verb＋(よ)う＋とする".
In English we just say "try (to do)…
quantum231
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30
votes
4 answers
不 and 非 and 無 and 未 usage difference/rule
Is there any rules that govern when to use 不 and 非 and 無 and 未 in regards to the meaning of "not" or "un-"
for instance 非表示, 不満
Mark Hosang
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