13 comments

1. Is there a word for the type of Japanese word that has a っ in the middle and ends in い? I see them all the time, like ぴったり、ぐっすり、しっかり etc.

2. Why are some words written in kana while some words use kanji like こんにちは instead of 今日は for example.

3. Following sentence is a comment in a game on some work tools (shovel, bucket etc)

   長い間誰にも使ってもらえてなくてどれもサビだらけになってる

   I think it translates to something like: “No one has used (able to use?) them for a long time and have become completely rusted”

   But im not sure on the usage of てもらえてなくて, as i know the grammar more when the subject is a person and the grammar shows favour or thankfulness (i believe the subject here is 道具?). Does just using 使わなくて here work just as well? Is this てもらう personifying the tools at all, and shows that its kinda sad its been left in this state?

4. https://imgur.com/a/ZWTgRdP

   For context, they were having dinner and he asked her if she have any plans tomorrow.

   1. What does 微妙 mean? Does it refer to the fact that her plans are very specific?
   2. By saying 寝る時間に比較的余裕があることは分かったけどこの後遅くまで付き合ってくれるかどうかは別問題だぞ he means that just because she will have plenty of time to sleep, it doesn’t imply that she will continue their date after dinner until late at night?

5. Hello, it’s my first post so I’ll throw my ball here, I think:

   I was discussing with ChatGPT an interpretation of a song by Shiina Ringo. The lyrics in question say: “この日々が訪れた窓の外には、誤魔化しのない夏描かれている”.

   According to my translation, there’s a hyperbaton involved, so we could say: “窓の外には、この日々が訪れた誤魔化しのない夏描かれている” — that is, “Outside the window, a summer without deception, which was visited by these days, is being drawn.”

   According to ChatGPT’s interpretation, the subordination only modifies “窓”, and the entire phrase “この日々が訪れた窓” is what’s been modified by “の外”. In other words: “Outside the window that was visited by these days, a summer without deception is being drawn.”

   The strange thing about ChatGPT’s version is that, usually, when both are present, there’s stronger connection between the elements of a possesive syntagm than in a subordinate phrase. So the idea of a subordinate phrase that only affect “窓” and not “窓の外” sounds pretty strange to me. Also, in japanese, the core of the possesive syntagm is usually at the end of it. That is, the core in “窓の外” should be “外” and not “窓”.

   Which interpretation sounds more plausible to you?

6. https://preview.redd.it/5bplfwptvn0f1.png?width=1084&format=png&auto=webp&s=4247fbb1de9dde502f563206e4af3483e96d7db8

   Was reading a webnovel on kakuyomu and encountered this silver circle a few times. Ignored it the first time, but after it appeared a few more times I can’t keep ignoring it anymore. What does it mean?

7. So I’m doing my PhD in Japan and I’m taking supplemental Japanese lessons (my research and lab is mostly English-based though). I’ve been studying Japanese on-and-off for around 2 years, passed N4 in December (not great score though lol) and working towards N3 hopefully by this December.

   However, with the additional (optional) classes I’m taking, we have to physically write- this has become quite a problem for me as I’ve never really bothered with learning to handwrite. Thus, I barely know stroke order for probably 95% of the kanji I learned (even hiragana/katakana is super slow for me; though I know that will improve with more practice).

   I’m not even sure where to begin, should I learn the stroke order of individual radicals, whole kanji etc.? If any of you have started to practice handwriting mid-way through your learning process, what advice would you have?

8. Any veteran Anki tips?
   Default setting seemed too fast paced for me so I set the learning steps to 2h, 4h, 8h, 1d, 2d, 7d (Wanikani-like). On top of context sentences and screenshots, I also record audio from visual novels using Audacity program.

   Right now my main problem is to find a routine. Is it a good idea to “begin a new day” in the late afternoon when I come from work and have more time to study? That way I would “only review” cards the following morning.

   Is anyone using the AnkiMobile app? My current Anki deck with media included is already 1 GB big. Would that be a problem? Should I create a “lightweight deck” for syncing instead?

9. In gaming chats, is the term ハメ・ハメる as vulgar as the definition implies? I’m surprised by how often I hear it, and these aren’t edgy teens I’m hearing say it, it’s very casual. Are they just desensitized to the term?, much like how often you might hear in English “get fucked” which is similarly common but also incredibly vulgar in definition.

10. 「クワガタに気付かれないようにしろよ」

    「後ろに目がついてるぐらいのつもりでそーっとだ」

    they are trying to capture a stag beetle.

    is 後ろに目がついてるぐらいのつもりで an idiom? I don’t understand what’s he saying to the other person; that’s trying to capture it.

11. I was watching the Chinese dub of Pokémon when I noticed something interesting. This happens during episode six of the first season. In this episode, Ash, Misty and Brock enter Mount Moon and see a Clefairy. The Clefairy then bring them to a giant Moon stone with other Clefairy dancing around it. Clefairy then tried to explain to Ash the significance of the Moonstone. However, Ash is unable to understand what Clefairy is saying since he doesn’t speak Pokémon. Even with Pikachu acting as the interpreter, Ash still has no idea what is going on. In a bid of desperation, Pikachu pulls a strand of hair from Ash’s head and shows it to Ash. Ash then concludes that the Moon stone is Clefairy’s god. That is when I realised that this connection of hair and god only makes sense in Japanese. In Japanese, 神 and 髪 are both pronounced as かみ so the connection makes sense.

12. Hello,

    How do you guys deal with kanji when the font is small? (which is the case I believe for most websites)

    I am asking for the learning phase, of course later on your brain fills in the details, but as a beginner it is important and valuable for me to see big detailed kanji.

    For now Yomitan with reading turned off seems to work, but still not satisfactory. So I was wondering if there are any other methods.

    Thanks.

13. A question about te iru, te iku and te kuru. I want to learn more about some of the nuances as I find certain uses still quite difficult. So far I understand that te iku and te kuru work in relation to the speaker in terms of location, movement and the time of actions. Here are a list of sentences with all of the forms and my interpretation. I feel like quite a few of these are wrong so I am wondering if people can help explain what is correct, wrong and the nuances between some of these as they can feel rather similar.

    ケークを食べている

    Eating cake. (Continuing to do so)

    ケークを食べていた

    Was eating cake (Continued to do so up until an unspecified time)

    ケークを食べていく

    Going to eat cake (Starting the process)

    ケークを食べていった

    Was going to eat cake (Started the process)

    ケークを食べてきる

    Can eat cake (Ability to eat?)

    ケークを食べてきた

    Was eating cake (Continued to do so up until now)