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11
votes
2 answers
The role of と particle in 「二度としない」
What is the role of と particle in 「二度としない」? Is it quotative, adverbialisation, change of state or supposition?
Also, what extra nuances does it contribute to the expression compared to if も is used instead (二度もしない)?
Lukman
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What is 床下? (picture attached)
Most detailed definition I could find:
床下とは
建物の床の下。えん（縁）のした。
Picture from google:
Example:
その大雨で床下30センチまで水につかった。
The heavy rain flooded my house up to 30cm below the floorboards.
However, what I don't understand from the above is:
Does the…
user12127
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votes
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What does（棒） as net slang mean?
I was reading a novel at Syosetsuka ni Narou's site and I found（棒） in one of the dialogues. I know that there's a similar（笑） that's equivalent to English net slang "lol", but I find no sense in changing "smile" for "pole". What would it mean?
The…
Kemm
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1 answer
Are foreign personal names usually written in katakana rather than Romaji?
Are foreign personal names usually written in katakana, or is this dependent on the type or writing, and the target audience? For example, this Japanese Wikipedia entry on Steven Bradbury uses katakana, while this Wikipedia entry on JRuby uses…
Andrew Grimm
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11
votes
3 answers
Is it possible to tell whether a word is kanji or hiragana without reading it?
Is it possible to tell whether a word would be written in kanji or if it would be written in hiragana without actually reading it, like it is reasonably easy to tell if a word is likely to be written in katakana? (An example for katakana would be…
Andrew Grimm
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11
votes
2 answers
How does one make potential passive in Japanese?
For ichidan verbs, potential form is made by changing the ru to rareru. The same is done to change them to passive.
e.g taberu -> taberareru (can eat; also, be eaten)
For godan verbs, potential is made by ending with eru and passive by areru.
e.g…
quantum231
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11
votes
1 answer
Difference between ままに and ままで?
What would be the difference between
扉はやはり音もなく、押されるままに動いた。
and
扉はやはり音もなく、押されるままで動いた。
When do you use ままで instead of ままに？
Fate
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11
votes
4 answers
相手の日本人 or 日本人の相手?
If I wanted to describe the person I was speaking about as being Japanese, to me it seems natural to say:
日本人{にほんじん}の相手{あいて}
... however, one time a Japanese teacher told me it's more correct to say:
相手{あいて}の日本人{にほんじん}
... but that never sat…
Questioner
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11
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4 answers
Why is "kisama" more refined than "temee"?
From Wikipedia:
–§– 貴様 — formerly an extremely honorific form of address; in modern speech is as insulting as, but more refined than, "temee"
貴様 is often said (by textbooks) to be the most insulting word used refer to someone, even more…
Pacerier
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11
votes
2 answers
How to read the X in 5X4間?
A book about architecture I'm trying to read (it's a bit of a slog what with the technical jargon and such) contained this description of a temple building: 二重、初重５X4間、裳階 （もこし） つき、上重４X3間. So it's two stories, the first being five rooms by four, with…
rdb
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11
votes
2 answers
Changing of vowels at the end of words to え
I've observed that in many cases where people are speaking informally and want to make an impact especially in exclamations, the speakers will change diphthongs at the end of words to an elongated え.
Examples are:
すごい -> すげえ
お前【まえ】 -> おめえ
手前【てまえ】 ->…
A_User
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11
votes
2 answers
Ways to end a phone conversation
Despite its being one of the most basic element of daily-life Japanese, I often find myself looking for a proper way to end certain phone conversations.
Of course, I know the standard: [それでは]失礼します, or: よろしく[お願いします]...
But somehow, neither of these…
Dave
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11
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3 answers
Where does the いかない in ～わけにはいかない come from?
My first thought is that いかない in this phrase conveys the meaning of 行かない, that is, not progressing to something. But this is mere guesswork.
What is the history of いかない in ~わけにはいかない? Does it have roots in the verb 行く or is this way off base?
phirru
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11
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4 answers
Does 「えらい 」also mean "terrible"?
For over a decade of speaking (poorly) and listening to Japanese, it seems to me that I have almost exclusively heard the word えらい in the sense of meaning "admirable".
For example, I'd mention volunteering in Tohoku, and someone might say えらいね to…
Questioner
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11
votes
1 answer
What is it about ～まして?
Is it just the て-form of ます? So, could I just use 食べまして instead of 食べて? Leading to my next question (everything from here on is assumed):
Since 食べまして is the polite form of 食べて, why wouldn't you use 食べましてください instead of 食べてください, isn't that even more…
RnBandCrunk
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