All Questions
135
questions
43
votes
4
answers
15k
views
What does -komu (～込む) at the end of a word mean?
There are loads of words in Japanese which end in 込{こ}む, like 吸{す}い込む, 読{よ}み込む, 入{はい}り込む, 打{う}ち込む, 売{う}り込む, 送{おく}り込む, 押{お}し込む. How does adding ～込む change the meaning? What is the meaning that links ...
- 7,148
14
votes
4
answers
9k
views
What is the difference between ～すぎ and ～すぎる?
When I was playing a video game a few months ago, I noticed that some of the characters (mostly young teen females, in case it matters) kept saying ～すぎ instead of ～すぎる.
For example, when one of the ...
- 3,457
13
votes
1
answer
16k
views
Usage (correctness) of だと after verbs
I've noticed だと showing up after verbs for a while now in various forms of media, such as blogs, anime, regular TV shows & also when speaking to Japanese people. However, I was originally told ...
- 654
13
votes
1
answer
908
views
How do 自他 triplets of related verbs work?
I thought this had been asked before (possibly by me), but I couldn't find it. I'm wondering why for certain verbs/words, instead of just a 自他 pair, there is a triplet (or possibly more) where two of ...
- 44.4k
11
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Difference between 帰って来る and 帰る
Consider the following two sentences:
うちへ帰って来ます。
うちへ帰ります。
What's the difference between these two sentences? How does the bolded part affect the meaning?
- 125
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
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 ...
- 19.9k
10
votes
1
answer
1k
views
What does ～たまえ mean exactly and how do you use it?
I've seen the verb 給え【たまえ】, usually written in hiragana and after the stem of another verb, ending a phrase. I'm not too sure about its meaning.
I've read that it means "...please" but is ...
- 419
9
votes
2
answers
21k
views
What does verb + くなる imply or mean?
I was talking to a person and they used:
大切にしたくなるよ。
Does that mean I have come to cherish or something like that?
- 305
9
votes
2
answers
909
views
What conjugation of 願う is 願わくば, and what does it mean here?
This is my first post here, I'm sorry if I didn't follow any formatting or posting rules.
Original sentence, from a character's monologue:
願わくばこの時間が少しでも長く続くことを。。。
The English translation I have (...
- 357
8
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How to understand 叶う here?
The following is copied verbatim from a JLPT prep book:
将棋歴30年のベテランに、初心者の私が叶うべくもない
I read it as,
A beginner as myself should be no match for a shougi veteran with 30 years of expertise.
But I ...
- 7,053
7
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Which verb means "to pet <an animal>"?
I was trying to translate "May I pet the dog?", but I'm having trouble finding what word means "to pet".
Looking it up on jisho.org I get 可愛がる, but translating it back using various services gives me ...
- 244
7
votes
2
answers
411
views
Meaning of 重なる in this sentence
Context: a young criminal is not a member of a yakuza clan (半グレ) but he is happy to be their dogsbody (使いっぱしり). After he kills a member of an enemy yakuza clan, a member of the clan he works for ...
- 4,483
6
votes
2
answers
198
views
Using 交番 as a する-verb
交番{こうばん}, meaning "police box," is listed as both a noun and a する-verb in JMdictDB. I'm curious as to what「交番する」would mean. Literal translation doesn't make any sense to me, and I can't find any ...
- 339
6
votes
1
answer
553
views
What effect does adding 「取り~」 before a verb have?
I've encountered many verbs with 「取り~」 inserted. Up till now I've treated 「取り+verb」 as separate vocabulary, but quite often, the definitions are not much different than the base verb alone. In ...
- 2,360
6
votes
1
answer
459
views
Meaning of 素直に甘える in the following sentence
Context: a person is trying to convince another that having other people worry about you is a good thing.
『心配』って『勝手にさせておけばいい』ものらしいよ。してくれる人がいる時はただ素直に甘えちゃえばいいんだって。
My attempt:
"Worrying" is like "...
- 4,483