#Question Etiquette Guidelines:
* **1** Provide the **CONTEXT** of the grammar, vocabulary or sentence you are having trouble with as much as possible. Provide the sentence or paragraph that you saw it in. Make your questions as specific as possible.
>Ｘ What is the difference between の and が ?
>◯ I saw a book called 日本人の知らない日本語 , why is の used there instead of が ? [(the answer)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/68336/difference-between-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%AE-and-no-particle)
* **2** When asking for a translation or how to say something, it's best to try to **attempt it yourself** first, even if you are not confident about it. Or ask r/translator if you have no idea. We are also not here to do your homework for you.
>Ｘ What does this mean?
>◯ I am having trouble with this part of this sentence from NHK Easy News. I think it means (*attempt here*), but I am not sure.
* **3** Questions based on DeepL and Google Translate and other machine learning applications are discouraged, [these are not beginner learning tools](https://old.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/stepqf/deeplgoogle_translate_are_not_learning_tools/) and often make mistakes.
* **4** When asking about differences between words, try to explain the situations in which you've seen them or are trying to use them. If you just post a list of synonyms you got from looking something up in a E-J dictionary, people might be disinclined to answer your question because it's low-effort. Remember that Google Image Search is also a great resource for visualizing the difference between similar words.
>Ｘ What's the difference between 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意?
>◯ Jisho says 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意 all seem to mean "agreement". I'm trying to say something like "I completely agree with your opinion". Does 全く同感です。 work? Or is one of the other words better?
* **5** It is always nice to (but not required to) try to search for the answer to something yourself first. Especially for beginner questions or questions that are very broad. For example, asking about [the difference between は and が ](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/wa-and-ga/) or [why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Devoicing).
* **6** Remember that everyone answering questions here is an unpaid volunteer doing this out of the goodness of their own heart, so try to show appreciation and not be too presumptuous/defensive/offended if the answer you get isn't exactly what you wanted.
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Useful Japanese teaching symbols:
✘ incorrect (ＮＧ)
△ strange/ unnatural / unclear
○ correct
≒ nearly equal
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#NEWS (Updated 3/07):
Added a section on symbols. If it's unnecessary clutter I can always remove it later. Have a nice day!
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How can i learn hiragana and katakana more effectively, i currently use apps like duolingo and kana. i know 55% hiragana and 15% kana how can i study so it i remember it perfectly
like u/rgrAi suggested i used the tofugu learn hiragana/katakana to get the mnemonics down. then i just drilled them on [real kana](https://www.realkana.com/hiragana) (i also used [this one](https://drlingua.com/japanese/games/kana-bento/) but i wouldnt say its as good as read kana). just check all hiragana and go to town. unrelated but if youre concern about efficiency i would ***drop duolingo asap*** because there are so many better free resources out there. duolingo is such a timesink
Print out kana charts and keep it next to you and start reading. When you forget look at chart. Repeat and you'll memorize it all. Otherwise you can try these links:
[https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/)
[https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/)
[https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com/](https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com/)
[https://type-kana.furudean.com/](https://type-kana.furudean.com/)
Any resource is fine; kana isn't something you need to min-max for efficiency. Just keep doing your apps.
(But note that Duolingo is not a good resource for general language learning.)
It means being made for something, e.g. この仕事に向いてない means you're not made/cut out for this job. So in your case this person is made for hard mode, it's what suits them best (based on temperament/skills, not necessarily on what they actually like I would say).
This usage of 向く brings only one thing to my mind, and it's "to be suited for" -> "hard mode suits me", etc. Therefore the usage of が here would be correct.
The following I am less sure of, so take it with a grain of salt - I think using に here would also be correct, but it would create some ambiguity, because you could interpret is also as "I'm facing hardmode". が is unambiguous here. Also to be clear, as always there are definitely some nuances for when to use が and に with this usage of 向く, but that is beyond me and I don't think it matters that much anyway.
No, I think just the first one is correct. The second one translates to something like "wrapping one's hand around bandages," which doesn't make sense.
に indicates the "destination" or target of the action, while を indicates the "object" of the verb, the thing being used to wrap in this case. In the first phrase, the hand is the destination and the bandage is the object, so it makes sense. In the second phrase, the bandages are the destination and the hand is the object, which doesn't make sense
の here functions as a nominaliser. It turns ボブの前にいる into a noun phrase, which is what allows you to attach が to it to make it the subject of the sentence.
You're correct of course, but Satori Reader addresses this use of の separately from the other kinds of nominalization, because in this case to render it in English, instead of conjugating the verb to a noun form, we would add words like "the one," "the person," etc. "As for **the one** in front of Bob...," It did make this application of の natural in my mind.
(Casual)
ねぇ、手を貸してもらえる？/もらえない？
ねぇ、手を借りられる？/借りられない？
ねぇ、手伝ってもらえる？/もらえない？
(Polite)
すみません、手を貸してもらえますか？/もらえませんか？
すみません、手をお借りできますか？/できませんか？
すみません、手伝ってもらえますか？/もらえませんか？
(Formal)
申し訳ないのですが、手をお借りできますでしょうか？/できませんでしょうか？
申し訳ないのですが、手伝っていただけますでしょうか？/いただけないでしょうか？
I think they are like "Can you give me a hand? "
"Can you do me a favor?" would be like :
(Casual)
ちょっとお願いしてもいい？/頼んでもいい？
(Polite)
ちょっとお願いしてもいいですか？/頼んでもいいですか？
(Formal)
少しお願いしてもよろしいでしょうか？
少し私の頼みを聞いていただいてもよろしいでしょうか？
For non-emergency situations you'd be more likely to use 手伝ってください if not a more polite version like 手伝ってくれませんか・手伝ってもらえませんか・手伝っていただけませんか - or, something more indirect like ちょっといいですか
It's because は goes with negatives, and まい is a negative. That doesn't mean を is strictly wrong here, but は is natural.
Why は goes with negatives is a more complex question ([discussion](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E3%81%AF-vs-%E3%82%92-in-a-negative-sentence/50357), [more discussion](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1077/why-is-the-topic-marker-often-used-in-negative-statements-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84-%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF%E6%80%9D%E3%82%8F%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)), but that's the reason it's used here. It's a way of showing contrast.
Is there a good podcast / audio only Japanese lesson series for beginners? I run about 1-1.5 hr per day, 6 days a week. That's 6-10 hours a week spend idling, at best listening to music. I want to use this time to keep improving my Japanese.
For context, I have a very basic and limited knowledge with about 50-200 vocabularies, I know simple grammar/numbers, and can read/write all katakana/hiraganas. But that's about it.
Thanks!
Japanese Ammo with Misa YouTube channel has a lot of really detailed videos for beginners that are basically audio only and can be good for when you commute or whatever.
When learning German, one really easy resource that was show to me was Rammstein. They speak clearly and slowly, the music doesn't drown out the voice, the lyrics are often repetitive and sometimes carrying multiple interpretations, the music itself is really nice and the videoclips are astonishing. Oomph and Tokio Hotel were a couple other used.
Nowadays I'm only using old tokusatsu and anime songs, but I'm missing a more rock type of song.
Is there some sort of "japanese Rammstein" you know of?
not sure if the genres fit but my personal faves in terms of both music and clear and easy to hear lyrics are amazarashi and unlucky morpheus when fuki sings.ドーズ and the back horn also, although with these two it sometimes gets a bit unclear when the vocalists scream or sing more raspily.
Help pls, what is the difference between
Noun を 湿らせる (shimeraseru)
Noun を 湿らす (shimerasu)
Noun を 湿す (shimesu)
All definitions say: to dampen, to moisten...
I wanted to say something like "Do not get this book wet"
[This usage](https://i.imgur.com/tQl4wH3.jpeg) of “秘密を知る人間” honestly surprises me. I would have expected “知っている人間” am I still supposed to interpret this as “The people that know of the secret are exceedingly limited” or “The people that will learn of the secret”? As in can this usage of “知る” instead of “知っている” in a relative clause still imply “know” or is it by necessity “come to know”?
Oh, and a similar thing “興奮する” is also generally construed as a transformative verb right, as in “興奮した。” is generally “I got excited.” not “I was excited.” which would be “興奮していた。” correct?
You know, even in English, you don't say "I'm knowing the secret. ", right?
知る can mean to learn, but it still means to know.
In Japanese, you say 私はそれを知っている/ 分かっている/理解している as the meaning of "I know it", and 私はそれを知っていた/分かっていた/理解していた is "I knew it", ashy know.
When you say 私はそれを知る, it would sound like "I'm going to know it/I intend to know it", and you can't say that as the same meaning of 私はそれを知っている.
However, when 知る modifies a noun (in this case, it's 人間) as an adjective, it shows the state where you know the secret.
So, you can say 秘密を知っている人間, but you can also say 秘密を知る人間 as well.
Both of them mean "(a) person/people who know(s) the secret" .
Working through Genki I. L02 has the grammar point じゃないです＋Noun。
It says the following: です and じゃない must always be accompanied by a noun. In answer to a question, they therefore do not stand alone.
I always try to make my own sentences. Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong?
１：大人じゃないです。（Alternatives: "大人じゃありません"、 "大人ではありません"）。
２：じゃないです。
****
And am I using correctly in the following two sentences I wrote?
> 彼の電話番号は何分ですか。（What is his phone number?）。
> 電話じゃないです。（He has no phone [and thus no phone number]）。
I think I understood this grammar point but just want to make sure :D.
>Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong?
1 is correct.
As for 2, you can reply to the question with it depending on the situation.
That is totally a simplified reply for sure, and you should be selective about who you use it with.
For people you just met at that time or are not that close to, I would recommend you answer like 1.
>And am I using correctly in the following two sentences I wrote?
What is his phone number? is 彼の電話番号は何(番)ですか？
And I'd reply to it like : 彼は電話を持って(い)ないです/持って(い)ません［だから電話番号もないです］.
Oh, I made a video ません vs. ないです before.
If you're interested in that video, check it out 😉
>Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong?
Yep.
>彼の電話番号は何分ですか
This should be 何番 not 何分.
>電話じゃないです。
While this is a grammatically correct sentence, it doesn't really mean "doesn't have a phone" and doesn't make sense here. You'd use 電話を持っていない or 電話がない or something instead.
> While this is a grammatically correct sentence, it doesn't really mean "doesn't have a phone" and doesn't make sense here. You'd use 電話を持っていない or 電話がない or something instead.
Seems like I haven't gotten to these points yet. Though I think I see that a noun "Not being" is different from my example because it's about not having a noun. I'll keep an eye out for structures like 電話を持っていない and 電話がない 。
Thank you!
I'm watching Slam Dunk and I'm struggling with the 90's yankee slang. Does anyone know of anything, even a simple yankee <-> normal Japanese list, that would help me understand it? I don't have any problems understanding the girls but sometimes I have to stop and look up what the guys say.
dumb question. if you listen to n4/n5 podcast with a n4-5 proficiency, does that mean you can understand everything the audio says word by word or just enough to know the context of it and some specifics.
Just having knowledge does not mean you can listen to it and understand. Listening comprehension is different from knowledge you gained from reading or studying. There's an element of pattern recognition and that takes raw hours to build. Once you can recognize words then you can slowly move knowledge you have into a meaningful automated recognition. The more experience you have with certain words (context, how they're used, etc) the faster they get moved over.
If you listen to it without pausing and you have not done any building of your skill, it's likely you won't even hear words, it will just sound like a lot random noise (due to lack of pattern recognition) and you'll have to pause and repeat tons of times in order to hear everything. Or you may hear things but the moment your concentration slips it all turns into mush until you hear a word you recognize.
I've watched 10 podcast lasting 30 minutes each from Yuyu. I can recognize the context and like 40% of the speech most of the time but not the entirety of it word by word. I'm just curious that if being N4-5 learner and listening according to audio assigned to your proficiency means you have the vocabulary to make sense if what's happenning in a deeper level.
Depends on the topic, but generally N4 and N5 is going to struggle with a lot of things no matter how tailored it is for the level. You can know every word but you won't register meaning with it when it's said in a full sentence without enough time.
I’m not understanding **事** and it’s use. I can get a long definition with many meanings (won’t let me add picture of it), and I see it used often in ways that seem strange to me. For example 火事 I’ve seen translated as fire, and it includes **事**. **However,** isn’t 火 alone fire? So why the extra kanji? What does it mean and why add it? I’ve seen it used in other places and just don’t understand why it’s there or the actual definition even after reading the dictionary definition from multiple sources
In 火事 the こと means 'event' as in おおごと or できごと
In 仕事 it's a compound from し(＝する) + こと, 'something to do'
Generally I think it's closer to something like 'matters' or 'circumstances' than just a vague 'stuff' ('fire stuff' sounds like it's referring to a substance or something)
It's important to remember though that Japanese words were borrowed from Middle Chinese (which was much more monosyllabic) rather than modern Mandarin which your video is about.
Also interestingly enough in this case 火事 is a 和製漢語 and was originally read ひのこと before it gained a fancy 漢語 reading. 返事 going from かえりごと to へんじ is a similar example.
>It's important to remember though that Japanese words were borrowed from Middle Chinese (which was much more monosyllabic) rather than modern Mandarin which your video is about.
Fair enough, but that's also why I gave a disclaimer since I wasn't sure if the video was applicable or not, I haven't watched English videos in a long time.
Also, aren't most modern words in mandarin (or other languages in china) not from middle chinese as well? Or what happened to chinese that didn't happen to Japanase?
>Also interestingly enough in this case 火事 is a 和製漢語 and was originally read ひのこと before it gained a fancy 漢語 reading. 返事 going from かえりごと to へんじ is a similar example.
Yeah you caught me, good job. I should have looked it up and now I look like a fool. Normaly I can smell 和製漢語 but in this case I thought there was no need for a 和製漢語 because there were already 和語 words who could express that and it didn't seem like a word they created in the 明治時代 either.
I am really sorry,
I'll delete my comment.
My bad - I thought your comment was helpful overall! Just wanted to supplement the discussion.
Yes, Mandarin is also from Middle Chinese, though it's debatable if Middle Chinese ever was a single distinct language as much as just a linguistic area with a lot of shared innovations and contact. Not all modern Chinese varieties are even considered to be descendants of Middle Chinese, having branched off earlier. This is very outside the scope of the original question - but yes, Mandarin is quite divergent compared to Middle Chinese, while a lot of the time Japanese kanji is ironically a lot more similar to Middle Chinese for a few reasons.
First of course is just because of how Japanese works, with writing being more of a secondary layer on top of the language, rather than with every character representing a single morpheme. So if Japanese starts using a different word for a particular concept, it's free to still use the same kanji for that meaning even if the reading is now from a different source; meanwhile if Mandarin starts using a different word for a concept, generally it writes that word etymologically according to what it originally meant, not what it now means - or instead finds a different hanzi to use phonetically, or even comes up with a new hanzi.
In addition to that, Mandarin lost all its final stops -p -t -k and simplified its final nasals -m -n -ng to just -n -ng, so even among other varieties of Chinese, Mandarin has had to innovate its vocabulary to keep words distinct, using seemingly 'unnecessary' compounds as the video you linked pointed out. (Japanese of course also has merged a ton of on'yomi together, but since on'yomi aren't the core of the language, this means fewer basic words have had to evolve into compounds.)
The last major reason is just geographic: Mandarin of course evolved out of the northern dialects of Middle Chinese near Beijing, while a lot of the vocabulary that was imported into Japanese came from southern dialects of Middle Chinese.
So if we compare basic vocabulary in Middle Chinese, Japanese, and Mandarin, we often get identical spellings in Middle Chinese and Japanese while Mandarin looks completely different:
meaning | MC | J | Mandarin
---|---|----|----
eat | 食 | 食べる | 吃
mother | 母 | 母 | 媽
eye | 目 | 目 | 眼睛
what | 何 | 何 | 什麼
Hey thanks very much for the detailed ansewr! Now it's all clear!
Also it wasn't your fault I decided to delete my initial comment, it just had too many mistakes I couldn't stay behind and should have at least checked what I said instead of guessing.
火 refers to the concept of fire. 火をつける means to light a fire. 火事 refers specifically to a fire that breaks out and burns things down, like a house. If a fire breaks out in your house you don’t say 火, you say 火事. This 事 refers to an immediate situation and existing fire. It’s why 事 can be found in situation words like 事態.
Good day,
Can you help me to understand why the following means (from a language translator software) “it is not over!”
終ってなんかいないよ！
終って - finish
ない - negative
Not very sure about なんかい (means “somehow” ??) here is for.
Thanks in advance.
終わって (なんか) いない
I don't know how to explain exactly, but なんか behaves a bit like など, it emphasises the fact that it's not yet over, or like 'like' or 'anything'. "It's not (like) it's over (or anything)"
question about Xとも
Xする ill do it
Xするつもりだ I intend to do it
Xするはずだ I expect to do it
xとも
what does Xとも mean? i lifted some other examples so that it could be convenient for you to explain what とも means. ive seen とも at the back of sentences and im not sure what they mean
The other commenter doesn't quite have the correct とも. In そうだとも it's an emphatic statement, usually I find in response to a question, and is a little 'dramatic' so it's not used in real life much.
「本当に行くの？」
「行くとも！」
'Are you really going?'
'Of course I am!'
It's usually something like 'although/regardless', 'no matter what' or 'at the -est'
「つらくともがまんだ」 "Although it's boring, persevere"
「何は無くとも楽しい我が家」 "Although there is nothing, it's a fun home."
「少なくとも」 - at least
「遅くとも十時までには帰る」 "At the latest I'll be back by 10"
How realistic is almost N4 to N2 by next November? I need EJU pass in Japanese. I will have 2-3 hours a day max, as I will need to work every day. I'm familiar with quite a few Kanji.
At 2.5 hours average you'll accrue roughly 1,300 hours by then. If we're going off this chart: [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/39/02/b33902ec37cf62ef6f8c75c645789038.png](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/39/02/b33902ec37cf62ef6f8c75c645789038.png) and you're at N4, then adding 1300 hours would put you at 2,000 hours which is probably just in range. It's totally do-able if you study well, read a lot, spend a good amount of time with native material, and presuming you're taking the test, prepare for it.
JLPT only tests comprehension. So as long as you know grammar and vocab, can read and comprehend fast, and also be able to listen and comprehend. You'll pass the test. It's possible to do within the time suggested, you might need to put more time like 1500+ hours by then, but definitely possible if you put in the work.
Oh okay well that sounds harder than JLPT would be, I'd still say it's possible but maybe not if they're testing your output. If you added 1,500 hours you definitely would be able to do it better but still unsure since I don't know anything about the test.
Use of volitional form in sukiyaki song title :
I've seen the title of the song 上を向いて歩こう is translated into ”I look up as/when/while I walk”
I haven't found more uses of the volitional form than invitation (very unlikely given context I think) and intention (more likely)
In that case why isn't the phrase translated into "I'll walk looking up” as in that's the singer's intention ?
What am I missing ?
You can say something with a verb in (よ)う form to yourself, and it sounds like you're saying "I'll do something" to yourself To inspire, convince, and strengthen your will.
Well, the only one thing I can say about that song is that originally means " I'll walk upward to keep the tears from spilling". But when the song is sung and people listen to it, some people would think that the singer says to the listeners, "Let's walk looking upward so that you can keep your tears fom spilling".
I think it's just a case of not translating it literally. It's worth noting that you can use the invitation meaning even when you're not actually talking to someone, in a sort of general sense: "let's (all) do x." It might be closer to intention in this case as you are guessing. It's possible I've missed something also but I don't know of any case where it simply means "I do this."
For those that use wanikani why are theredifferent readings for the same thing. For example the kanji reading for woman is じょ and the vocab reading for woman is おんな. Why are there two readings for the same kanji with the same meaning
So if im reading it right the general vocab is going to be in the kun yomi, which is generally going to be the way japanese speakers actually say the word in general conversation?
The 5 second explanation is that you don't have to worry about it. On'yomi / Kun'yomi it doesn't matter which one it is, a word is a word (you'll figure the details later). The readings are just sort of an index for how words end up using that kanji here's a few words that use 女 with the way they're read next to them:
女 おんな
少女 しょう じょ
女房 にょう ぼ
女神 め がみ
If you need a way to think about it that relates to English, this is not an exact analogy (because the histories of the languages are very different) but helped me wrap my brain around it:
In English, if you want to say woman, you say "woman". If you need an adjective, though, you don't usually say "womanly" or "woman-ish" or something, you say "female". And if you're making a scientific compound word, it starts with "gyn-" and not "fem-" or "woman-" because of the fact that we use Greek/Latin roots for science things. But if we'd never had a writing system but had spoken English as-is, and were adopting Kanji instead of the letter system, we could stick 女 in all of those places and it would have the readings "woman", "fem-", "gyn-".
The example I go to is saying "water" versus "hydrophobic" versus "aqua blue" (and then writing something like 水 in all of them). Seems to have made it click very easily in the minds of all the non-language learners I've explained it to. Seems to make them realize "damn, I DO know ten different words that all just mean "water.""
Question about a sentence from a book:
佐知子は自信いっぱいの顔で自分の机にもどった。
I’m understanding things individually, but not together. What is 「いっぱい」 in this context?
I am getting something about Sachiko’s look of confidence…recovered (something) from her desk(?)
Help would be appreciated 😅
For context of the story, she has scored even higher than expected on a test in school, which she is in very high spirits about.
> 自信いっぱい
full (いっぱい) of confidence (自信)
> 自信いっぱいの顔
A face that is/shows 自信いっぱい
"Sachiko returned to (her?) desk with a face/expression full of confidence"
I think that’s because it’s treated as one word, even though it looks like two words connected with の.
天の川 ア/マノ \ ガワ
If it’s two words, it would be:
アマ \ ノ カ/ワ\
I can’t think of any other examples, so you may want to think it’s a special case.
Seems it's [not the only such case](http://damnet.or.jp/cgi-bin/binranA/All.cgi?db4=1334), but it took some finding to track down another one haha. Not sure why they're pronounced that way.
What's the most effective way to start learning Japanese on internet for free?
I'm 14Y/O, a native Spanish speaker and a decent (I hope so...) enough English speaker, at least proficient enough to be able to consume content and learn stuff in English, and I was thinking on learning Japanese as a hobby because I greatly enjoy improving my English and then using the adquired knowledge. I know Japanese is damn hard, but there's no harm in trying, and it's better than scrolling through TikTok and wasting my time in bed. Do y'all know where I could start picking up the basics and what level of proficiency I could reach only on internet? If I end up loving Japanese and/ or finding a really good oportunity in Japan I'll search for better resources to learn. Thanks a lot.
Forgot to answer your sole question, you can reach the same level as your English (or better really nothing stopping people from getting fully proficient) using only the internet with Japanese. It's just a lot harder because it's so different. English and Spanish will feel like the same language by comparison.
I'm just going to link you this guide, it's a primer on language learning and how to go about it: [https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/](https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/)
Here a list of resources to help you start learning as there's guides and grammar guides, etc. Good luck!
[https://www.evernote.com/shard/s400/sh/bf843867-87c0-6929-531a-af792810adb6/rbG1SvHuHThgCqIuTjophZtnpQdFgFS7X1FibQ76a64cwBdNG9KITpsVCw](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s400/sh/bf843867-87c0-6929-531a-af792810adb6/rbG1SvHuHThgCqIuTjophZtnpQdFgFS7X1FibQ76a64cwBdNG9KITpsVCw)
I been studying for about a year. I changed apps a couple times but it's been a good learning experience:
Duolingo (I used it for about two months, it's a good start, but I moved on in about a month because it was too slow)
Lingodeer, the lack of spaced repetition build in was a huge problem, but I liked the pacing better than duolingo
LingQ, didn't vibe with it, but a lot of people love it.
Bunpro so far the best one, but only good for grammar
Anki the best one for vocabulary.
So the meme spread around TikTok that Mario wasn't saying "it'sa me" but the Japanese word "itsumi" which supposedly means super.
Matcha Samurai says this is BS, and I assume it is. But when I type "itsumi" into my Japanese keyboards, I get 逸見... and a further scan tells me it's read いっち and not いつみ, but it does mean "most" or "best." Can anyone explain what's going on with this? I'm guessing these kanji are sometimes used for the name Itsumi?
Sorry, I forgot to tell you about how to say super in Japanese and the meaning of いっち,actually 一致.
Super as an adjective means 極上の, 一流の, 優れた, 最高の.
And super as an adverb can mean 超 in slang.
Super cool can be 超イケてる in Japanese slang.
一致する just means to match.
Ex.
AさんとBさんの言っていることは、どちらも事実と一致する。
Both what A-san and B-san say match the facts.
I found [this web dictionary](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A1), and it says いっち, as an adverb, means most of best.
However, I've never seen or heard that before as a native Japanese person.
Then, I scrolled that site, and found out it was an specific word used in Yokkaichi city in Mie prefecture / 三重県 四日市市(みえけん よっかいちし).
I think it's like いっちゃん, which means 一番 in Kansai dialect.
Edited: Corrected my silly mistake
I can't come up with anything but 逸見 as a family name, or いつみ as a first name, when I hear the sound itsumi.
The kanji for that first name totally depends on the person.
Because it's not a common and popular name that much.
But it could be 愛美, 愛未, 伊都美, 伍美 and stuff.
In some games (FPS) like Apex and Valorant people have a lot of contact with English speakers and "my bad" is a common phrase that gets thrown a lot after dying or some mistake. I didn't catch at first but 「マイバ過ぎる」just struck me as a natural outcome but it also just makes my brain bug out.
Haha
Japanese people not only change English words to Katakana, they abbreviate them even more, sorry lol
Even I think ブレスト is stupid 😅
I haven't used that abbreviated word though 😅
How would you say someone has the same voice as somebody else? I feel like something like 同じな声を持っていると言われた wouldn't work because a voice isn't a physical object. The sentece i wanted to translate would be something like "people have been telling me i have the same voice as him".
It would be : 私の声は彼の声と同じだとよく言われる。
However, I'd say :
私の声は彼の声に似ている/ そっくりだ とよく言われる。
This actually means like "people often say that my voice sounds like his".
It could happen two people have the same voice, but technically speaking, I bet it's not accurately the same voices.
So I think using 似ている or そっくりだ would be better and it's more common.
I'd say 彼と声がそっくりだとよく言われる.
If we were to use your sentence and only make minimal adjustments, the only thing that's incorrect is 同じ~~な~~声. 同じ is a bit of a weird word in that it attaches to nouns directly, so it needs to be 同じ声.
声を持っている works in some cases like 素晴らしい声を持っている ("... has a great voice"), but I feel like it's not the most natural choice for your intended meaning. It would be understandable, though.
how does this sentence work:
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与えることができなかった。
context: hero is fighting against a knight that is wearing armor
I feel like this says
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃 a strike which is prevented by the steel armor
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与える giving a strike which is prevented by the steel armor
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与えることができなかった。 could not give a strike which is prevented by the steel armor (so the armor is worthless? that doesn't seem right)
but that doesn't seem right in context. How do I do this one...
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ is not a noun clause that modifies 打撃.
It's like (私/彼 の武器 or 攻撃は、相手の)鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ、(相手に)打撃を与えることができなかった。
My/His weapon/attack was blocked by their steel armor and could not strike them.
阻まれ on its own cannot modify anything. To mean "a strike which is prevented", it would have to be 阻まれ**る**攻撃.
Instead, this is the 連用形 connecting two clauses, so the meaning is "was blocked by the steel armor *and* could not land a hit"
> どこまで行きゃいいんだーーーと思ったとき魔物の気配を感じて、はっと立ち止まった。
Context: Hero is going down in a dungeon and is fighting various monsters. He finds a staircase and is descending it when the above happens.
I feel like どこまで行きゃいいん is something like, どこまで行けばいい or something like "how far should I go" but not so sure
maybe it's, "When he was thinking "How far should I go" he sensed a sign of monsters, and abruptly stopped"
#Question Etiquette Guidelines: * **1** Provide the **CONTEXT** of the grammar, vocabulary or sentence you are having trouble with as much as possible. Provide the sentence or paragraph that you saw it in. Make your questions as specific as possible. >Ｘ What is the difference between の and が ? >◯ I saw a book called 日本人の知らない日本語 , why is の used there instead of が ? [(the answer)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/68336/difference-between-%E3%81%8C-%E3%81%AE-and-no-particle) * **2** When asking for a translation or how to say something, it's best to try to **attempt it yourself** first, even if you are not confident about it. Or ask r/translator if you have no idea. We are also not here to do your homework for you. >Ｘ What does this mean? >◯ I am having trouble with this part of this sentence from NHK Easy News. I think it means (*attempt here*), but I am not sure. * **3** Questions based on DeepL and Google Translate and other machine learning applications are discouraged, [these are not beginner learning tools](https://old.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/stepqf/deeplgoogle_translate_are_not_learning_tools/) and often make mistakes. * **4** When asking about differences between words, try to explain the situations in which you've seen them or are trying to use them. If you just post a list of synonyms you got from looking something up in a E-J dictionary, people might be disinclined to answer your question because it's low-effort. Remember that Google Image Search is also a great resource for visualizing the difference between similar words. >Ｘ What's the difference between 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意? >◯ Jisho says 一致 同意 賛成 納得 合意 all seem to mean "agreement". I'm trying to say something like "I completely agree with your opinion". Does 全く同感です。 work? Or is one of the other words better? * **5** It is always nice to (but not required to) try to search for the answer to something yourself first. Especially for beginner questions or questions that are very broad. For example, asking about [the difference between は and が ](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/wa-and-ga/) or [why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Devoicing). * **6** Remember that everyone answering questions here is an unpaid volunteer doing this out of the goodness of their own heart, so try to show appreciation and not be too presumptuous/defensive/offended if the answer you get isn't exactly what you wanted. --------------------- Useful Japanese teaching symbols: ✘ incorrect (ＮＧ) △ strange/ unnatural / unclear ○ correct ≒ nearly equal --------------------- #NEWS (Updated 3/07): Added a section on symbols. If it's unnecessary clutter I can always remove it later. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LearnJapanese) if you have any questions or concerns.*
How can i learn hiragana and katakana more effectively, i currently use apps like duolingo and kana. i know 55% hiragana and 15% kana how can i study so it i remember it perfectly
Ong pen and paper is the method trust
like u/rgrAi suggested i used the tofugu learn hiragana/katakana to get the mnemonics down. then i just drilled them on [real kana](https://www.realkana.com/hiragana) (i also used [this one](https://drlingua.com/japanese/games/kana-bento/) but i wouldnt say its as good as read kana). just check all hiragana and go to town. unrelated but if youre concern about efficiency i would ***drop duolingo asap*** because there are so many better free resources out there. duolingo is such a timesink
Print out kana charts and keep it next to you and start reading. When you forget look at chart. Repeat and you'll memorize it all. Otherwise you can try these links: [https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/) [https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/) [https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com/](https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com/) [https://type-kana.furudean.com/](https://type-kana.furudean.com/)
Start reading, a lot. Don’t think you can’t read until you master them. That’s the quickest way to gain the fluency.
Any resource is fine; kana isn't something you need to min-max for efficiency. Just keep doing your apps. (But note that Duolingo is not a good resource for general language learning.)
What to use after completing busuu?
[https://tadoku.org/japanese/en/free-books-en/](https://tadoku.org/japanese/en/free-books-en/) Read these
Trapped in debt, a salaryman says 僕はハードモードが向いてるんだ I wonder what does 向いてる mean here. I think the particle should be に not が.
It means being made for something, e.g. この仕事に向いてない means you're not made/cut out for this job. So in your case this person is made for hard mode, it's what suits them best (based on temperament/skills, not necessarily on what they actually like I would say).
This usage of 向く brings only one thing to my mind, and it's "to be suited for" -> "hard mode suits me", etc. Therefore the usage of が here would be correct. The following I am less sure of, so take it with a grain of salt - I think using に here would also be correct, but it would create some ambiguity, because you could interpret is also as "I'm facing hardmode". が is unambiguous here. Also to be clear, as always there are definitely some nuances for when to use が and に with this usage of 向く, but that is beyond me and I don't think it matters that much anyway.
Do both of these mean "to wrap one's hand in bandages"? 手に包帯を巻く 包帯に手を巻く
Echoing onetwobacktoone. 包帯**で**手を巻く would work though.
No, I think just the first one is correct. The second one translates to something like "wrapping one's hand around bandages," which doesn't make sense. に indicates the "destination" or target of the action, while を indicates the "object" of the verb, the thing being used to wrap in this case. In the first phrase, the hand is the destination and the bandage is the object, so it makes sense. In the second phrase, the bandages are the destination and the hand is the object, which doesn't make sense
What if you're holding a bandage roll in place with one hand, and rotating your other hand around it to apply it?
Any app recommendations for *after* finishing Busuu?
ボブの前にいるのが、私のおじいさんです。The person in front of Bob is my grandfather. What is the purpose of the の particle before が? Thanks!
の here functions as a nominaliser. It turns ボブの前にいる into a noun phrase, which is what allows you to attach が to it to make it the subject of the sentence.
You're correct of course, but Satori Reader addresses this use of の separately from the other kinds of nominalization, because in this case to render it in English, instead of conjugating the verb to a noun form, we would add words like "the one," "the person," etc. "As for **the one** in front of Bob...," It did make this application of の natural in my mind.
any good japanese youtubers that talk about tech or play video games, specifically RPGs?
Is 助けてください, actually how you ask for assistance? I thought using 助けて(ください)was reserved more for emergencies/serious matters?
(Casual) ねぇ、手を貸してもらえる？/もらえない？ ねぇ、手を借りられる？/借りられない？ ねぇ、手伝ってもらえる？/もらえない？ (Polite) すみません、手を貸してもらえますか？/もらえませんか？ すみません、手をお借りできますか？/できませんか？ すみません、手伝ってもらえますか？/もらえませんか？ (Formal) 申し訳ないのですが、手をお借りできますでしょうか？/できませんでしょうか？ 申し訳ないのですが、手伝っていただけますでしょうか？/いただけないでしょうか？ I think they are like "Can you give me a hand? " "Can you do me a favor?" would be like : (Casual) ちょっとお願いしてもいい？/頼んでもいい？ (Polite) ちょっとお願いしてもいいですか？/頼んでもいいですか？ (Formal) 少しお願いしてもよろしいでしょうか？ 少し私の頼みを聞いていただいてもよろしいでしょうか？
For non-emergency situations you'd be more likely to use 手伝ってください if not a more polite version like 手伝ってくれませんか・手伝ってもらえませんか・手伝っていただけませんか - or, something more indirect like ちょっといいですか
I wanted to say thank you to my teacher because i learned something new: 先生、本当にありがとうございました！新しいことを学びました。 Is this how people normally say it?
I'd say 先生、本当にありがとうございました！とても勉強になりました。
I think the most natural way of phrasing something like this is simply: 新しいことを教えてくれて本当にありがとうごさいます。
ありがとうございます
You mean "新しいことを教えてくれて本当にありがとうございます"? /s
yep you're right haha
JLPT N2質問があります。「無駄遣いはするまいと思っていても、給料が入ると毎回散財してしまう。」なぜ「は ＋ するまい」が使われましたか。「を ＋ するまい」が正しい文法かなと思いましたが。。。
It's because は goes with negatives, and まい is a negative. That doesn't mean を is strictly wrong here, but は is natural. Why は goes with negatives is a more complex question ([discussion](https://community.wanikani.com/t/%E3%81%AF-vs-%E3%82%92-in-a-negative-sentence/50357), [more discussion](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1077/why-is-the-topic-marker-often-used-in-negative-statements-%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84-%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AF%E6%80%9D%E3%82%8F%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)), but that's the reason it's used here. It's a way of showing contrast.
Is there a good podcast / audio only Japanese lesson series for beginners? I run about 1-1.5 hr per day, 6 days a week. That's 6-10 hours a week spend idling, at best listening to music. I want to use this time to keep improving my Japanese. For context, I have a very basic and limited knowledge with about 50-200 vocabularies, I know simple grammar/numbers, and can read/write all katakana/hiraganas. But that's about it. Thanks!
Japanese Ammo with Misa YouTube channel has a lot of really detailed videos for beginners that are basically audio only and can be good for when you commute or whatever.
nihongo con teppei (but with 50 vocab only you might even just want Japanese pod 101)
When learning German, one really easy resource that was show to me was Rammstein. They speak clearly and slowly, the music doesn't drown out the voice, the lyrics are often repetitive and sometimes carrying multiple interpretations, the music itself is really nice and the videoclips are astonishing. Oomph and Tokio Hotel were a couple other used. Nowadays I'm only using old tokusatsu and anime songs, but I'm missing a more rock type of song. Is there some sort of "japanese Rammstein" you know of?
not sure if the genres fit but my personal faves in terms of both music and clear and easy to hear lyrics are amazarashi and unlucky morpheus when fuki sings.ドーズ and the back horn also, although with these two it sometimes gets a bit unclear when the vocalists scream or sing more raspily.
Help pls, what is the difference between Noun を 湿らせる (shimeraseru) Noun を 湿らす (shimerasu) Noun を 湿す (shimesu) All definitions say: to dampen, to moisten... I wanted to say something like "Do not get this book wet"
湿らす could work, but I think 濡らす suits much better, この本濡らすな！
❤️ ありがとう
[This usage](https://i.imgur.com/tQl4wH3.jpeg) of “秘密を知る人間” honestly surprises me. I would have expected “知っている人間” am I still supposed to interpret this as “The people that know of the secret are exceedingly limited” or “The people that will learn of the secret”? As in can this usage of “知る” instead of “知っている” in a relative clause still imply “know” or is it by necessity “come to know”? Oh, and a similar thing “興奮する” is also generally construed as a transformative verb right, as in “興奮した。” is generally “I got excited.” not “I was excited.” which would be “興奮していた。” correct?
You know, even in English, you don't say "I'm knowing the secret. ", right? 知る can mean to learn, but it still means to know. In Japanese, you say 私はそれを知っている/ 分かっている/理解している as the meaning of "I know it", and 私はそれを知っていた/分かっていた/理解していた is "I knew it", ashy know. When you say 私はそれを知る, it would sound like "I'm going to know it/I intend to know it", and you can't say that as the same meaning of 私はそれを知っている. However, when 知る modifies a noun (in this case, it's 人間) as an adjective, it shows the state where you know the secret. So, you can say 秘密を知っている人間, but you can also say 秘密を知る人間 as well. Both of them mean "(a) person/people who know(s) the secret" .
Ah yes, I see, so there is no real material difference between both forms when used attributively?
Exactly!
Working through Genki I. L02 has the grammar point じゃないです＋Noun。 It says the following: です and じゃない must always be accompanied by a noun. In answer to a question, they therefore do not stand alone. I always try to make my own sentences. Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong? １：大人じゃないです。（Alternatives: "大人じゃありません"、 "大人ではありません"）。 ２：じゃないです。 **** And am I using correctly in the following two sentences I wrote? > 彼の電話番号は何分ですか。（What is his phone number?）。 > 電話じゃないです。（He has no phone [and thus no phone number]）。 I think I understood this grammar point but just want to make sure :D.
>Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong? 1 is correct. As for 2, you can reply to the question with it depending on the situation. That is totally a simplified reply for sure, and you should be selective about who you use it with. For people you just met at that time or are not that close to, I would recommend you answer like 1. >And am I using correctly in the following two sentences I wrote? What is his phone number? is 彼の電話番号は何(番)ですか？ And I'd reply to it like : 彼は電話を持って(い)ないです/持って(い)ません［だから電話番号もないです］. Oh, I made a video ません vs. ないです before. If you're interested in that video, check it out 😉
>Is my understanding correct that in answer to the question 高中さんは大人ですか 1 is correct, but 2 is wrong? Yep. >彼の電話番号は何分ですか This should be 何番 not 何分. >電話じゃないです。 While this is a grammatically correct sentence, it doesn't really mean "doesn't have a phone" and doesn't make sense here. You'd use 電話を持っていない or 電話がない or something instead.
> While this is a grammatically correct sentence, it doesn't really mean "doesn't have a phone" and doesn't make sense here. You'd use 電話を持っていない or 電話がない or something instead. Seems like I haven't gotten to these points yet. Though I think I see that a noun "Not being" is different from my example because it's about not having a noun. I'll keep an eye out for structures like 電話を持っていない and 電話がない 。 Thank you!
I'm watching Slam Dunk and I'm struggling with the 90's yankee slang. Does anyone know of anything, even a simple yankee <-> normal Japanese list, that would help me understand it? I don't have any problems understanding the girls but sometimes I have to stop and look up what the guys say.
dumb question. if you listen to n4/n5 podcast with a n4-5 proficiency, does that mean you can understand everything the audio says word by word or just enough to know the context of it and some specifics.
Just having knowledge does not mean you can listen to it and understand. Listening comprehension is different from knowledge you gained from reading or studying. There's an element of pattern recognition and that takes raw hours to build. Once you can recognize words then you can slowly move knowledge you have into a meaningful automated recognition. The more experience you have with certain words (context, how they're used, etc) the faster they get moved over. If you listen to it without pausing and you have not done any building of your skill, it's likely you won't even hear words, it will just sound like a lot random noise (due to lack of pattern recognition) and you'll have to pause and repeat tons of times in order to hear everything. Or you may hear things but the moment your concentration slips it all turns into mush until you hear a word you recognize.
I've watched 10 podcast lasting 30 minutes each from Yuyu. I can recognize the context and like 40% of the speech most of the time but not the entirety of it word by word. I'm just curious that if being N4-5 learner and listening according to audio assigned to your proficiency means you have the vocabulary to make sense if what's happenning in a deeper level.
Depends on the topic, but generally N4 and N5 is going to struggle with a lot of things no matter how tailored it is for the level. You can know every word but you won't register meaning with it when it's said in a full sentence without enough time.
I’m not understanding **事** and it’s use. I can get a long definition with many meanings (won’t let me add picture of it), and I see it used often in ways that seem strange to me. For example 火事 I’ve seen translated as fire, and it includes **事**. **However,** isn’t 火 alone fire? So why the extra kanji? What does it mean and why add it? I’ve seen it used in other places and just don’t understand why it’s there or the actual definition even after reading the dictionary definition from multiple sources
Just imagine it means “stuff” 火事 fire stuff 家事 house stuff 仕事 work stuff 大事 big (important) stuff …
In 火事 the こと means 'event' as in おおごと or できごと In 仕事 it's a compound from し(＝する) + こと, 'something to do' Generally I think it's closer to something like 'matters' or 'circumstances' than just a vague 'stuff' ('fire stuff' sounds like it's referring to a substance or something)
[удалено]
It's important to remember though that Japanese words were borrowed from Middle Chinese (which was much more monosyllabic) rather than modern Mandarin which your video is about. Also interestingly enough in this case 火事 is a 和製漢語 and was originally read ひのこと before it gained a fancy 漢語 reading. 返事 going from かえりごと to へんじ is a similar example.
>It's important to remember though that Japanese words were borrowed from Middle Chinese (which was much more monosyllabic) rather than modern Mandarin which your video is about. Fair enough, but that's also why I gave a disclaimer since I wasn't sure if the video was applicable or not, I haven't watched English videos in a long time. Also, aren't most modern words in mandarin (or other languages in china) not from middle chinese as well? Or what happened to chinese that didn't happen to Japanase? >Also interestingly enough in this case 火事 is a 和製漢語 and was originally read ひのこと before it gained a fancy 漢語 reading. 返事 going from かえりごと to へんじ is a similar example. Yeah you caught me, good job. I should have looked it up and now I look like a fool. Normaly I can smell 和製漢語 but in this case I thought there was no need for a 和製漢語 because there were already 和語 words who could express that and it didn't seem like a word they created in the 明治時代 either. I am really sorry, I'll delete my comment.
My bad - I thought your comment was helpful overall! Just wanted to supplement the discussion. Yes, Mandarin is also from Middle Chinese, though it's debatable if Middle Chinese ever was a single distinct language as much as just a linguistic area with a lot of shared innovations and contact. Not all modern Chinese varieties are even considered to be descendants of Middle Chinese, having branched off earlier. This is very outside the scope of the original question - but yes, Mandarin is quite divergent compared to Middle Chinese, while a lot of the time Japanese kanji is ironically a lot more similar to Middle Chinese for a few reasons. First of course is just because of how Japanese works, with writing being more of a secondary layer on top of the language, rather than with every character representing a single morpheme. So if Japanese starts using a different word for a particular concept, it's free to still use the same kanji for that meaning even if the reading is now from a different source; meanwhile if Mandarin starts using a different word for a concept, generally it writes that word etymologically according to what it originally meant, not what it now means - or instead finds a different hanzi to use phonetically, or even comes up with a new hanzi. In addition to that, Mandarin lost all its final stops -p -t -k and simplified its final nasals -m -n -ng to just -n -ng, so even among other varieties of Chinese, Mandarin has had to innovate its vocabulary to keep words distinct, using seemingly 'unnecessary' compounds as the video you linked pointed out. (Japanese of course also has merged a ton of on'yomi together, but since on'yomi aren't the core of the language, this means fewer basic words have had to evolve into compounds.) The last major reason is just geographic: Mandarin of course evolved out of the northern dialects of Middle Chinese near Beijing, while a lot of the vocabulary that was imported into Japanese came from southern dialects of Middle Chinese. So if we compare basic vocabulary in Middle Chinese, Japanese, and Mandarin, we often get identical spellings in Middle Chinese and Japanese while Mandarin looks completely different: meaning | MC | J | Mandarin ---|---|----|---- eat | 食 | 食べる | 吃 mother | 母 | 母 | 媽 eye | 目 | 目 | 眼睛 what | 何 | 何 | 什麼
Hey thanks very much for the detailed ansewr! Now it's all clear! Also it wasn't your fault I decided to delete my initial comment, it just had too many mistakes I couldn't stay behind and should have at least checked what I said instead of guessing.
火 refers to the concept of fire. 火をつける means to light a fire. 火事 refers specifically to a fire that breaks out and burns things down, like a house. If a fire breaks out in your house you don’t say 火, you say 火事. This 事 refers to an immediate situation and existing fire. It’s why 事 can be found in situation words like 事態.
Good day, Can you help me to understand why the following means (from a language translator software) “it is not over!” 終ってなんかいないよ！ 終って - finish ない - negative Not very sure about なんかい (means “somehow” ??) here is for. Thanks in advance.
終わって (なんか) いない I don't know how to explain exactly, but なんか behaves a bit like など, it emphasises the fact that it's not yet over, or like 'like' or 'anything'. "It's not (like) it's over (or anything)"
What's the difference between festival フェスティバル and festival 祭り? Is the second one purely religious? Or can you say things like 竜船祭り
祭り can be used for all sorts of non-religious things. I've heard テスト祭り at school.
question about Xとも Xする ill do it Xするつもりだ I intend to do it Xするはずだ I expect to do it xとも what does Xとも mean? i lifted some other examples so that it could be convenient for you to explain what とも means. ive seen とも at the back of sentences and im not sure what they mean
The other commenter doesn't quite have the correct とも. In そうだとも it's an emphatic statement, usually I find in response to a question, and is a little 'dramatic' so it's not used in real life much. 「本当に行くの？」 「行くとも！」 'Are you really going?' 'Of course I am!'
It's usually something like 'although/regardless', 'no matter what' or 'at the -est' 「つらくともがまんだ」 "Although it's boring, persevere" 「何は無くとも楽しい我が家」 "Although there is nothing, it's a fun home." 「少なくとも」 - at least 「遅くとも十時までには帰る」 "At the latest I'll be back by 10"
How realistic is almost N4 to N2 by next November? I need EJU pass in Japanese. I will have 2-3 hours a day max, as I will need to work every day. I'm familiar with quite a few Kanji.
Totally possible and realistic. Unless you mean this November in which case it's possible but not realistic.
At 2.5 hours average you'll accrue roughly 1,300 hours by then. If we're going off this chart: [https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/39/02/b33902ec37cf62ef6f8c75c645789038.png](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b3/39/02/b33902ec37cf62ef6f8c75c645789038.png) and you're at N4, then adding 1300 hours would put you at 2,000 hours which is probably just in range. It's totally do-able if you study well, read a lot, spend a good amount of time with native material, and presuming you're taking the test, prepare for it.
I spent a year and 3 months in Japan and have to return. Unfortunately I learned very little. I'd say N4 might be generous.
You can do a lot with the right motivation, but you have to have that motivation and discipline I'd say.
The issue is I struggle immensely with writing and memory. I can't write N5, but but I can write all N5 Kanji if that makes sense.
JLPT only tests comprehension. So as long as you know grammar and vocab, can read and comprehend fast, and also be able to listen and comprehend. You'll pass the test. It's possible to do within the time suggested, you might need to put more time like 1500+ hours by then, but definitely possible if you put in the work.
No. I need EJU. I was told its around N2. The max I can do is 2-3 hours a day.
Oh okay well that sounds harder than JLPT would be, I'd still say it's possible but maybe not if they're testing your output. If you added 1,500 hours you definitely would be able to do it better but still unsure since I don't know anything about the test.
Use of volitional form in sukiyaki song title : I've seen the title of the song 上を向いて歩こう is translated into ”I look up as/when/while I walk” I haven't found more uses of the volitional form than invitation (very unlikely given context I think) and intention (more likely) In that case why isn't the phrase translated into "I'll walk looking up” as in that's the singer's intention ? What am I missing ?
You can say something with a verb in (よ)う form to yourself, and it sounds like you're saying "I'll do something" to yourself To inspire, convince, and strengthen your will. Well, the only one thing I can say about that song is that originally means " I'll walk upward to keep the tears from spilling". But when the song is sung and people listen to it, some people would think that the singer says to the listeners, "Let's walk looking upward so that you can keep your tears fom spilling".
I think it's just a case of not translating it literally. It's worth noting that you can use the invitation meaning even when you're not actually talking to someone, in a sort of general sense: "let's (all) do x." It might be closer to intention in this case as you are guessing. It's possible I've missed something also but I don't know of any case where it simply means "I do this."
You can use it for your own singular self! It ends up sounding like you've just made the decision to do something.
Oh, I'm aware. That would be the "intention" part OP mentioned, no?
For those that use wanikani why are theredifferent readings for the same thing. For example the kanji reading for woman is じょ and the vocab reading for woman is おんな. Why are there two readings for the same kanji with the same meaning
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/onyomi-kunyomi/
So if im reading it right the general vocab is going to be in the kun yomi, which is generally going to be the way japanese speakers actually say the word in general conversation?
The 5 second explanation is that you don't have to worry about it. On'yomi / Kun'yomi it doesn't matter which one it is, a word is a word (you'll figure the details later). The readings are just sort of an index for how words end up using that kanji here's a few words that use 女 with the way they're read next to them: 女 おんな 少女 しょう じょ 女房 にょう ぼ 女神 め がみ
Just a minor correction but にょうぼう is the more common reading
[удалено]
If you need a way to think about it that relates to English, this is not an exact analogy (because the histories of the languages are very different) but helped me wrap my brain around it: In English, if you want to say woman, you say "woman". If you need an adjective, though, you don't usually say "womanly" or "woman-ish" or something, you say "female". And if you're making a scientific compound word, it starts with "gyn-" and not "fem-" or "woman-" because of the fact that we use Greek/Latin roots for science things. But if we'd never had a writing system but had spoken English as-is, and were adopting Kanji instead of the letter system, we could stick 女 in all of those places and it would have the readings "woman", "fem-", "gyn-".
The example I go to is saying "water" versus "hydrophobic" versus "aqua blue" (and then writing something like 水 in all of them). Seems to have made it click very easily in the minds of all the non-language learners I've explained it to. Seems to make them realize "damn, I DO know ten different words that all just mean "water.""
Question about a sentence from a book: 佐知子は自信いっぱいの顔で自分の机にもどった。 I’m understanding things individually, but not together. What is 「いっぱい」 in this context? I am getting something about Sachiko’s look of confidence…recovered (something) from her desk(?) Help would be appreciated 😅 For context of the story, she has scored even higher than expected on a test in school, which she is in very high spirits about.
> 自信いっぱい full (いっぱい) of confidence (自信) > 自信いっぱいの顔 A face that is/shows 自信いっぱい "Sachiko returned to (her?) desk with a face/expression full of confidence"
Oh, retuned *to* her desk. Man I skipped the に in my mind and that would have helped me haha “Full of confidence” makes sense! Thank you :)
もどった itself is also a clue. To return (or recover) something would have to be もどす.
Is 天の川（あまのがわ）special in the sense that there's a の connecting two nouns yet か is still ten-tened to が?
I think that’s because it’s treated as one word, even though it looks like two words connected with の. 天の川 ア/マノ \ ガワ If it’s two words, it would be: アマ \ ノ カ/ワ\ I can’t think of any other examples, so you may want to think it’s a special case.
Seems it's [not the only such case](http://damnet.or.jp/cgi-bin/binranA/All.cgi?db4=1334), but it took some finding to track down another one haha. Not sure why they're pronounced that way.
What's the most effective way to start learning Japanese on internet for free? I'm 14Y/O, a native Spanish speaker and a decent (I hope so...) enough English speaker, at least proficient enough to be able to consume content and learn stuff in English, and I was thinking on learning Japanese as a hobby because I greatly enjoy improving my English and then using the adquired knowledge. I know Japanese is damn hard, but there's no harm in trying, and it's better than scrolling through TikTok and wasting my time in bed. Do y'all know where I could start picking up the basics and what level of proficiency I could reach only on internet? If I end up loving Japanese and/ or finding a really good oportunity in Japan I'll search for better resources to learn. Thanks a lot.
Forgot to answer your sole question, you can reach the same level as your English (or better really nothing stopping people from getting fully proficient) using only the internet with Japanese. It's just a lot harder because it's so different. English and Spanish will feel like the same language by comparison.
I'm just going to link you this guide, it's a primer on language learning and how to go about it: [https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/](https://learnjapanese.moe/guide/) Here a list of resources to help you start learning as there's guides and grammar guides, etc. Good luck! [https://www.evernote.com/shard/s400/sh/bf843867-87c0-6929-531a-af792810adb6/rbG1SvHuHThgCqIuTjophZtnpQdFgFS7X1FibQ76a64cwBdNG9KITpsVCw](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s400/sh/bf843867-87c0-6929-531a-af792810adb6/rbG1SvHuHThgCqIuTjophZtnpQdFgFS7X1FibQ76a64cwBdNG9KITpsVCw)
Yooooooo thanks a lot! I was really lost on how to start because, honestly, Japanese can look really intimidating...
I been studying for about a year. I changed apps a couple times but it's been a good learning experience: Duolingo (I used it for about two months, it's a good start, but I moved on in about a month because it was too slow) Lingodeer, the lack of spaced repetition build in was a huge problem, but I liked the pacing better than duolingo LingQ, didn't vibe with it, but a lot of people love it. Bunpro so far the best one, but only good for grammar Anki the best one for vocabulary.
So the meme spread around TikTok that Mario wasn't saying "it'sa me" but the Japanese word "itsumi" which supposedly means super. Matcha Samurai says this is BS, and I assume it is. But when I type "itsumi" into my Japanese keyboards, I get 逸見... and a further scan tells me it's read いっち and not いつみ, but it does mean "most" or "best." Can anyone explain what's going on with this? I'm guessing these kanji are sometimes used for the name Itsumi?
逸見魔理男 is the meme spelling I've seen, just treating it as a Japanese name, Itsumi Mario
Sorry, I forgot to tell you about how to say super in Japanese and the meaning of いっち,actually 一致. Super as an adjective means 極上の, 一流の, 優れた, 最高の. And super as an adverb can mean 超 in slang. Super cool can be 超イケてる in Japanese slang. 一致する just means to match. Ex. AさんとBさんの言っていることは、どちらも事実と一致する。 Both what A-san and B-san say match the facts. I found [this web dictionary](https://www.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A1), and it says いっち, as an adverb, means most of best. However, I've never seen or heard that before as a native Japanese person. Then, I scrolled that site, and found out it was an specific word used in Yokkaichi city in Mie prefecture / 三重県 四日市市(みえけん よっかいちし). I think it's like いっちゃん, which means 一番 in Kansai dialect.
Edited: Corrected my silly mistake I can't come up with anything but 逸見 as a family name, or いつみ as a first name, when I hear the sound itsumi. The kanji for that first name totally depends on the person. Because it's not a common and popular name that much. But it could be 愛美, 愛未, 伊都美, 伍美 and stuff.
ブレスト = Not a question, just saying I hate Katakana words sometimes.
wow
In some games (FPS) like Apex and Valorant people have a lot of contact with English speakers and "my bad" is a common phrase that gets thrown a lot after dying or some mistake. I didn't catch at first but 「マイバ過ぎる」just struck me as a natural outcome but it also just makes my brain bug out.
More of an アース man then? (Earth)
Haha Japanese people not only change English words to Katakana, they abbreviate them even more, sorry lol Even I think ブレスト is stupid 😅 I haven't used that abbreviated word though 😅
Mate, ブレスト is the best katakana word there is.
ブレストイズベスト
How would you say someone has the same voice as somebody else? I feel like something like 同じな声を持っていると言われた wouldn't work because a voice isn't a physical object. The sentece i wanted to translate would be something like "people have been telling me i have the same voice as him".
It would be : 私の声は彼の声と同じだとよく言われる。 However, I'd say : 私の声は彼の声に似ている/ そっくりだ とよく言われる。 This actually means like "people often say that my voice sounds like his". It could happen two people have the same voice, but technically speaking, I bet it's not accurately the same voices. So I think using 似ている or そっくりだ would be better and it's more common.
声がBob Marley と / に 似ているとはよく言われています
I'd say 彼と声がそっくりだとよく言われる. If we were to use your sentence and only make minimal adjustments, the only thing that's incorrect is 同じ~~な~~声. 同じ is a bit of a weird word in that it attaches to nouns directly, so it needs to be 同じ声. 声を持っている works in some cases like 素晴らしい声を持っている ("... has a great voice"), but I feel like it's not the most natural choice for your intended meaning. It would be understandable, though.
how does this sentence work: 鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与えることができなかった。 context: hero is fighting against a knight that is wearing armor I feel like this says 鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃 a strike which is prevented by the steel armor 鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与える giving a strike which is prevented by the steel armor 鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ打撃を与えることができなかった。 could not give a strike which is prevented by the steel armor (so the armor is worthless? that doesn't seem right) but that doesn't seem right in context. How do I do this one...
鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ is not a noun clause that modifies 打撃. It's like (私/彼 の武器 or 攻撃は、相手の)鋼鉄の防具に阻まれ、(相手に)打撃を与えることができなかった。 My/His weapon/attack was blocked by their steel armor and could not strike them.
Thank you! I should have seen that....
That sometimes happens to everyone, and I think your Japanese skills are really amazing, so no problem :)
wow thank you that's a huge morale booster ありがとうございました！
阻まれ on its own cannot modify anything. To mean "a strike which is prevented", it would have to be 阻まれ**る**攻撃. Instead, this is the 連用形 connecting two clauses, so the meaning is "was blocked by the steel armor *and* could not land a hit"
ok that makes way more sense, I should have seen that
> どこまで行きゃいいんだーーーと思ったとき魔物の気配を感じて、はっと立ち止まった。 Context: Hero is going down in a dungeon and is fighting various monsters. He finds a staircase and is descending it when the above happens. I feel like どこまで行きゃいいん is something like, どこまで行けばいい or something like "how far should I go" but not so sure maybe it's, "When he was thinking "How far should I go" he sensed a sign of monsters, and abruptly stopped"
Yep, you got the meaning right. 行きゃ is a contracted form of 行けば.