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1500 questions
11
votes
2 answers
Counter for 熊 (bears): ひき or 頭?
While hiking I saw 3 bears, and I have heard a lot of people say ひき to count them. There was a mother and two small ones, if that matters.
But when talking about it I also have been told that 頭 should be used to count bears.
Are both usable? Does it…
Nicolas Raoul
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11
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2 answers
When do you mark きょう or other similar relative time expressions with は
I've been trying to make proper sentences using the word きょう when I realized that I'm not really actually sure when I'm suppose to mark it with は. I know relative time expressions tend to stand alone meaning it's not followed by に and because of…
Nate
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How can one stop "去年【きょねん】教職【きょうしょく】" from looking like a weird 4 kanji compound?
In writing, sometimes you get the illusion of a 4-character compound:
Xさんは去年教職を退【しりぞ】いた。
This bothers some non-natives. To correct the "problem", can I always just place a comma between the kanjis where there is a false 四字熟語?
Xさんは去年、教職を退いた。
But…
david.t
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11
votes
2 answers
Was クリスマスケーキ used metaphorically about women?
There's a belief that "Christmas cake" (presumably クリスマスケーキ) was used metaphorically about Japanese women over 25 - no-one wants Christmas cake after Christmas is over, and similarly men don't want to marry women over the age of 25. Sometimes it's…
Andrew Grimm
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11
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1 answer
How does まで work in ～なまでの／～なまでに?
I ran into the following sentence in a video game called 善人シボウデス:
俺の腕は暴力的なまでの勢いで、後方に向かって手{た}繰{ぐ}り寄{よ}せられた。
I decided to look online, and I found similar examples, some of which used に rather than の:
危険なまでに美しい
異常なまでのこだわり
Dictionaries describe まで…
user1478
11
votes
1 answer
verb た-form + そう, hearsay or observation?
Verb る-form + そう indicates hearsay.
帰るそうだ
'I hear he will go home.'
帰らないそうだ [Negative]
Verb masu stem (i.e. conjunctive form 連用形) + そう shows information obtained through the senses, observation:
帰りそうだ
'It looks like he will go home.'
…
phirru
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11
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1 answer
Usage and meaning of [passive verb]-てみれば
I am familiar with the set phrase 「言われてみれば」 as a way to say "Now that you say that", but as I examine the phrase further, the phrase structure strikes me as strange. The 〜てみる conjugation is commonly used to say "to try doing something", but what…
Lukman
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11
votes
2 answers
What exactly is 「だらし」?
WWWJDIC states that 「だらしない」 can be written with kanji as 「だらし無い」, which suggests that the phrase is a negative construction that uses 「無い」, unlike words like 「すくない」 and 「あぶない」. Furthermore, 「だらしが無い」 and 「だらしの無い」 are listed as the other two variants…
Lukman
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11
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1 answer
Meaning of 増える in this sentence
In the following sentence:
魚は三匹に増えていた。
I don't know whether to interpret に as to or by.
So if I start with one fish then:
The number of fish increased to three (there are now three fish), or
The number of fish increased by three (there are now…
user3856370
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11
votes
2 answers
Saying 「おかわり」 when requesting second helping: what is being exchanged?
I am aware that the phrase 「おかわり」 that is used when asking for second helping (of meals especially) is an idiomatic expression, so its usage is understood as it is. But, I'm curious about the origin of this phrase because it seems to be derived from…
Lukman
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11
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1 answer
副詞 before copula
When reading through The meaning of そう, I was thinking about そう's status as a 副詞. Certainly, it acts like many other 副詞 in that it can directly modify verbs.
However, I was curious about the usage そうだ -- a form that I think not all 副詞 support.
副詞…
Darius Jahandarie
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11
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2 answers
その中( に / で / から ) What is the correct choice of particles?
Excerpt from a JLPT practice question:
Background information: the writer was looking for rental apartments.
次に行ったところは小さい会社ですが、そこの人は大変優しい人でした。 それにいいアパートもたくさんありました。 私はその中[Blank]好きな家を借りました。 今、住んでいるアパートより少し高いですが、新しくきれいなアパートです。
The answer is given as…
Flaw
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11
votes
3 answers
Is there a polite saying like "May I?"
Looking for a phrase that has the same meaning as "May I?" in English. One that would work in situations that would indicate I would like to try to solve a problem at hand, or receive control over something. For example, if someone is stuck with a…
Louis Waweru
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11
votes
1 answer
Meaning and usage of 〜してからにしろ
From the manga yotsubato!, casual conversation:
早く寝るのはいいけど、せめて晩飯食って風呂入ってからにしろ
In this sentence how does からにしろ at the end change it? I know the full sentence means this:
It's ok to go to bed early, but at least eat dinner, and take a bath.
But…
jale
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11
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2 answers
Use of になります in the context of time
While attempting to translate the sentence "It will soon be two years since I started learning Japanese", I started wondering how になります works in the context of time. Ignoring any other translation errors, is になります the correct word to use at the end…
heuristicus
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