LLearn Japanese

Having a wiiiiicked hard time with similar words

  • November 13, 2024

Simple words like すっと、さっき、やっと、and きっと for some reason break my brain. I keep mixing up meanings, even though yes, they are different words. It’s weird because I can tell the difference between words that sound and are spelled exactly the same (different kanji obviously), but these words throw a huge wrench in my spokes. I actually have a much easier time with longer words.

Does anybody else experience this? Perhaps someone has a tip or two on how to remember words such as these more effectively?

by ScotchBingeington

12 comments

  1. I might make sound-based associations with other (often unrelated) words in my head as a sort of mnemonic:

    さっき→**さき**ほど

    やっと→よう**や**く

    きっと→**か**ならず (same consonant, vaguely similar meaning. I also associate this word with the kiki of kiki/bouba)

    すっと→**す**ばやい (or I like to think of this すっ as the sound of air when something fast moves through it)

    Disclaimer: These are merely mnemonics and not intended as etymologies.

  3. Onomatopoeia are hard. I know さっき (not onomatopoeia like the others), やっと and きっと just from seeing them often.

    For すっと, I kept failing the card, which used the 3rd definition:

    1. straight; quickly; directly; all of a sudden​
    2. quietly; gently; softly
    3. to feel refreshed; to feel satisfied

    But I noticed that the 1st definition was close to:

    さっと – quickly (esp. actions)​

    And the 2nd definition was close to:

    そっと – softly; gently; quietly; lightly

    So now I have すっと, さっと and そっと grouped together in my brain. I also had trouble with 種 but grouping it with 棚 and 谷 really helped.

    It might also help to know that there are other “refreshing” words that start with す:

    スカッと – refreshingly; with a feeling of relief; pleasantly; (a weight) off one’s shoulder​

    すっきり – refreshingly; with a feeling of relief; pleasantly; (a weight) off one’s shoulder​

    清々しい – refreshing (e.g. feeling, scene, wind, morning air); brisk; bracing; fresh; refreshed

    At least, it’s a bit SOOthing to me. 🙂

  4. yeah those nasty little semi-onomonopoeic adverbs with no kanji and similar sounds all gum up my brain

  5. Yes!! I have a terrible time with また, まだ and まで. The fact that they sound so similar to the ear and that each word has different meanings as well makes my brain spin 😖 So I totally feel you pain

  6. I’ve had this trouble with とんでもない and つまらない. I was also mixing these up with もたいない until I heard this word used in very clear context. Now my brain jumps to that situation every time I hear it.

    I guess with immersion this problem goes away.

  7. Your example looks like a sentence to me.
    さっきやっとすっとできた。きっとはじめて。

    さっき (Just now, a moment/minutes/a while ago )
    やっと (finally/at last)
    すっと (straight/directly/easily)
    できた/できました。(I’ve done it.)
    きっと (surely)
    はじめて (初めて; the 1st time.)

    “さっきやっと” or “やっとさっき” and adverb+できる are idiomatic so their order is natural in Japanese.

  8. I have this too sometimes, most often with jukugo words.

    What I do is, I write temporary flashcards on paper with those words and review them *very* often, like at first in 15 minute intervals, then 30 mins, 1 hour later, 3 hours, etc..

    It usually takes me around 2 days until those words stick. Then I throw the paper cards away and add them into my normal SRS system (I use bunpro, but anything works)

  11. Onomatopoeia words are impossible for me to remember without an example sentence, or associating them with a word that they describe.

    Like, I would never remember ぽっかり , but seeing ぽっかりと穴 makes me remember.

  12. I feel exactly the same. Those words are a nightmare to remember. Even when I write them in context in Anki !

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