This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.
The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.
↓ Welcome to r/LearnJapanese! ↓
New to Japanese? Read the Starter's Guide and FAQ.
New to the subreddit? Read the rules.
Read also the pinned comment below for proper question etiquette & answers to common questions!
Please make sure to check the wiki and search for old posts before asking your question, to see if it's already been addressed. Don't forget about Google or sites like Stack Exchange either!
This subreddit is also loosely partnered with this language exchange Discord, which you can likewise join to look for resources, discuss study methods in the #japanese_study channel, ask questions in #japanese_questions, or do language exchange(!) and chat with the Japanese people in the server.
Past Threads
You can find past iterations of this thread by using the search function. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.
Useful Japanese teaching symbols:
〇 "correct" | △ "strange/unnatural/unclear" | × "incorrect (ＮＧ)" | ≒ "nearly equal"
Question Etiquette Guidelines:
0 Learn kana (hiragana and katakana) before anything else. Then, remember to learn words, not kanji readings.
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.
3 Questions based on ChatGPT, DeepL, Google Translate and other machine learning applications are strongly discouraged, these are not beginner learning tools and often make mistakes. DuoLingo is in general NOT recommended as a serious or efficient learning resource.
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 an 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.
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 or why you often can't hear the "u" sound in "desu" or "masu".
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.
7 Please do not delete your question after receiving an answer. There are lots of people who read this thread to learn from the Q&As that take place here. Deleting a question removes context from the answer and makes it harder (or sometimes even impossible) for other people to get value out of it.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
How do you ask for something specific vs something general? For example how would I differentiate between "Where is the book shop?" vs "Where is a book shop?"
Context.
So in both cases it would be something like "どこに本やをですか。"?
It would be 本屋はどこですか？
And yes - this sentence can mean "where is A book store" and also "where is THE book store", depending on the context.
But using that example - you can also modify it based on context. If you are talking to a friend about a new bookstore and you both know what is under discussion, you can say どこですか (where is it?). You don't even need the word 本屋 in that context.
Or if you are asking a random strange on the street if there is a bookstore in the neighborhood "この辺に本屋はありますか” - something more like "is there a bookstore around here".
But if your bigger question is "how can Japanese operate without definite and indefinite articles" - the answer is "context".
Thanks for the explanation.
I've just started my Japanese learning journey very recently but I've been having a great time. I'm currently focused on learning hiragana through a paper workbook and Bunpo, but I'm also using Drop for a little extra vocabulary (though it seems much more casual).
My brain tends to like it when I approach a topic from a few different angles, and the kind of 'click' moments I get when two different sources work together seem to really reinforce the understanding for me. Are there any other sources anyone might recommend I add to my regimen?
I'm not sure this is the right location for it, but I am running into an issue with Window's Japanese IME. It has a predictive input system (aka autocomplete). It used to show the autocomplete list after converting typed letters into at least 3 hiragana. But now it will show the list after the first 3 Roman characters typed. Is there a way to change it back so it doesn't recommend completions until it has converted at least 3 kana?
You can disable the autocomplete altogether, I don't think you can configure it beyond that.
Don't think there is. I just ignore it and use spacebar to convert to kanji after a chunk is done typing in kana. Tab occasionally for the predictive convert on thins like 1位.
キメの部分もあるのでテンポには要注意だが……やり切る自信はある。
he's talking about a song. what キメ means in this case?
http://imion.jp/index.asp?id=683&b_chkNum=4095&SecWord=%83L%83%81
thanks
Having just started and mostly focusing on vocabulary for now I was wondering. With kanji often representing the meaning of a word directly such as 二人. Is there a significant risk that by learning via written word someone ends up capable of reading (for meaning, but not aloud) just fine but suddenly finds themselves stumped when trying to talk because they could learn the meaning of words like that just from context without ever learning their (phonetic) spelling? Or would one eventually be able to figure out that reads ふたり just from the kanji alone?
You need to learn how words are pronounced or you don't really know the word. This kind of inquiry is actually often asked and the answer is pretty straight forward. If you don't know how it's read or pronounced, you don't know the word.
So if the word is in romaji, hiragana, katakana, or is spoken outloud. You won't recognize it. You also won't be able to input it on a keyboard to convert to it or speak it yourself. Kanji are there as an additional layer of nuance and information. You can learn how it's read by consulting a dictionary, asking a person, or checking google.
Makes sense. Thanks.
Given that there are only two words (three if you count archaic reading of 漁人) where 人 is pronounced り, I would say no.
Even if a particular word uses standard readings for kanji, you still don't know which readings those are, and you still don't know if there are any phonological processes going on like rendaku, renjou, or onbin.
Also, there are tons of relatively common words usually spelt with kanji whose readings have nothing to do with those kanji. Some of the common ones are 大人, 今朝, 一昨日.
And that's ignoring the wonderful mess which is placenames and personal names.
To sum it up, just by guessing and applying rules of thumb, for many words you would guess correctly, but for many, you'd have no chance.
EDIT: you can see it in practice by watching average-skilled native Japanese speakers play 漢字でGO: even if they know what a word means, they'll sometimes try to give an answer that seems to make sense, but is wrong.
Thank you for the comprehensive explanation.
Was hoping to make a post for this (I think it might be useful for others to know) but since I'm a perma lurker I have no karma here :P
I'm wondering how to express "for me this is a must-see place/ I HAVE to go to this place (because I want to)."
Now, I know there's 見るべき場所, but from what I understand, べき is more of a society-wide obligation/recommendation than a personal one.
Then there is なければいけない and なければならない。Some sources say that なければならない is used only for obligations and can imply it's something you don't want to do or are forced to comply with. I'm a little unclear on いけない。
I only found one source that confirms this, so idk if it's true. It said いけない can be used for things you want to do (compelled so strongly it feels like you have to, I assume, which is what I want to convey).
So, similarly to English, can we say: その映画、見なければいけなきゃあ→ I HAVE to watch that movie (cuz I want to... actually does that sound like you're telling 相手 they have to watch the movie? urgh) For some reason I instinctually want to avoid 私にとって (and 私は) Any advice or other wording that would be preferable here?
To idiomatically express that something is a must-see, you can use 外せない. This usage is derived from the sense of "you can not leave it out of your schedule".
Ooh okay. So something like (その場所に行く)機会を外せない, or can you use the thing you're missing out on as the direct object? ie. その場所を外せない・外せない場所
I think step one is to try and break the habit of "I want to say this in English. I wonder how they say it in Japanese". This is probably a necessary evil at the beginning stages of learning - but you want to push yourself to consume things in Japanese; so that you know "from the ground up" the expressions that work well, and don't work well, in Japanese.
Having said that - you can indeed use べき as a way to recommend something. それは見るべき映画ですよ or その店、絶対に行くべき！ or things like that are pretty normal. It can mean some huge societal sense (like Citizen Kane is a "must see"), or it can be that you know someone loves Italian food and they would definitely enjoy that restaurant.
If you are recommending to yourself (?) or just suggesting that this is a movie that *you* are interested in seeing - yeah you would not use べき in that kind of case. But then again you probably wouldn't use 見なきゃいけない either. Probably その映画、絶対に見に行きたい is probably the most natural and common expression.
You can also have something like その映画、絶対にマストですね or その映画、絶対に見にいくやつの一つ or things along those lines.
Yeah, I try to think in concepts rather than 1-to-1, though sometimes I'm surprised to find how closely English and Japanese expression lines up. I guess I thought したい doesn't convey the intensity I had in mind, but of course like your examples I can just throw some adverbs in to intensify it. That makes sense, thanks!
Interesting.
Which expressions track closely?
Course I can't remember much off the top of my head, though 授業を取る comes to mind, since in English "take a class" feels like a sorta nonsensical construction. Or just how similar the many meanings とる can encompass are to "take" in general.
I mean, it's more that you can express what can be expressed in Japanese, in English. But expressions themselves lining up closely is more rare. As with all languages really.
I would say something like 絶対...したい, e.g. その映画、絶対見に行きたい.
Seems to be the consensus, thank you :)
Context: A is saying B looks like a real mom, A meant it as a compliment but B is just a high school girl (she's taking care of her baby brother), so she had mixed feelings after being told that by A, so A tried to explain herself.
A: 違うよ、若いけどちゃんとしてるように見えるってこと
B: んー、でもやっぱりママには見られたくないなぁ
A: そういうもの？
B: そういうもの
I'm confused by what そういうもの means here. The literal translation is "Is that how it is?" right? So I asked AI whether that meant "Is that how you feel" but I got mixed answers. One of the AI said そういうもの is used as a universal rule, something like "it is a universal rule that high school girls don't want to be seen as mom", so using "feel" which focuses on her personal emotions, is inaccurate.
I'm becoming more confused. Please explain the nuance of そういうもの. Thanks.
そういうものだ means something like "that's just how it is / how it works". Among other things, it is commonly used to refer to psychological effects that are not fully rational, like in this situation. It comes up a lot in dialogues between people of different personalities, especially men wondering why women do some of the things they do (in this case A is a lesbian and B is straight, close enough).
Don't ask AI. It can't help you.
そういうもの here is pretty much "Oh, is that how it is?" and "Yeah, that's how it is"
Is that "a universal rule" to one or both of them? Is it a "feeling" to one or both of them? Yes. Or no. Or maybe. Or sometimes.
There is no need to try and discover some kind of universal Truth from this simple dialog.
Studying for Kanken 2 is going smoothly. I have 1,125 practice questions in my deck so far, and as I planned I should have about 2,000+ in by February. But I really feel like I have barely scratched the surface of this test. Maybe around March I will start trying the mock exams.
Why 10 minutes translates to joo ppoon rather than joo hoon?
For the same reasons that 3分 is さんぷん not さんふん. You want to look up the concept of rendaku 連濁 to understand these pronunciation rules.
It's probably covered in your textbook.
Had a question about Renshuu that i asked on a previous daily questions thing but I accidentally posted it right as the new one was posted so no one really saw it so I'm asking again.
I'm currently working through the pre-built jlpt word schedules and ran into a slight issue and I'm wondering if there's a way around it. The N3-N1 word schedules just have all the words in one go, right? Where you just work through them at your own pace.
But the N5 and N4 ones are further split up by lessons in the schedule. Where you can't access all words till you work through all lessons. You unlock the next lesson when you complete the previous one.
Is there a way to turn off that lessons system so I can just have all the words in the N4 schedule? (Already finished n5 which is why I didn't say that too) I already did some of the words in the schedule separately so now when i unlock a new lesson there's a couple review words then new words. And the amount of new words it unlocks is too small for my liking. So I'd like to turn the lessons off and just do all the reviews in the entire schedule then learn the words however i want without being limited by the lessons.
Does that make sense? Is there any way to turn off the lessons in renshuu's pre-built N4 schedule? (The lessons I'm talking about are when you click the 3 dots next to the schedule and it says "Lessons in this schedule" along with the focused review, and options to add or remove materials. I think there's something else called lessons too but I'm not talking about those. Just the in schedules ones and not all schedules have them)
I think you can try adding the schedules, then merging the schedules. That should remove the link to the lessons.
You can also add them using the Advanced Search, would probably be faster actually.
Yep, both of those will work. And ignore the "don't use this as a beginner" warning, the advanced search is useful whenever you need to rearrange schedules/vocab. (It is easy to accidentally mess up your schedules with it, and I've occasionally had some weird glitches after moving a lot of vocab around, but it's extremely useful.)
In this Instagram video, a person with a horse head plays a trumpet and sounds remarkably horse-like, while two girls laugh nearby. There's a few comments in the video that says things like
And the 入ってきません confuses me. Does it mean that the girls are so cute that the viewer isn't paying attention to the horse at all?
Yeah, like 頭に入ってきません
Got it, thank you.
I'm finally near the end of chapter 2 of yokubi but I kinda feel like none of it went into my brain. Even when I read it, one thing that comes up in my mind is the sentence in the before you begin "finish it as fast as possible and consume Japanese content". Should I just continue reading it until I finish it or get stuck reviewing the same contents over and over again?
Personally I'd read it once and start looking back when you hit sentences you don't understand.
Only thing worth rote memorizing is conjugations IMHO.
The guide is answering your question already. Do what the guide says. SRS is helpful but unnecessary.
You should use an SRS-based grammar resource like Bunpro for actually learning to remember Japanese grammar and treat yokubi as a secondary resource that expands on your SRS cards. Reading a grammar guide over and over again does not impart actual Japanese grammar to you the way a good SRS program will.
I finished both N5 and N4 grammar on Bunpro in around 2 months and had an easier time consuming Japanese content after.
is there a better keyboard than the gboard one? I feel like the top suggestions include a lot of autocompletion, and it also remembers a lot of my typos which stay in my suggestions for a long time. a "dumber" keyboard would be nice
when are alternate versions of 4,7,9 used? i’ve gotten lots of confusing and subjective answers when searching about this. i understand the whole “relates to death” and ichi/sichi thing, but im wondering when they’re actually used. seems like よん、なな、きゅう are most frequent, but that there’s exceptions like when counting up/down, telling time, doing math, etc. can someone please help give me some more clear answers based on what how the native majority speak normally?
Just to add on to what takahashitakako said, this is something you get used to the more you interact with Japanese.
It’s sadly something that you have to learn on a case by case basis. Japanese has two sets of number morphemes, one originating from native Japanese roots and one borrowed from Chinese. That’s the real difference between, say, なな (Japanese) and しち (Chinese). We have something similar in English with one (Old English) and the prefix uni- (Latin), two and duo-, and so on.
To be clear, every number 1-9 in Japanese has both a Japanese and Chinese reading in common usage, not just 4/7/9. Certain sets of words, like the name of days of the month (ふつか、みっか、よっか) and the generic counting series (ふたつ, みっつ, よっつ) use the native Japanese set, and other sets of words, like the hours (いちじ、にじ, さんじ) use the Chinese set.
what tools does everyone use these days? im returning to studying japanese after several years and wanted to know.
so far im working with jisho anki and using AI to help me add words from my work book into anki while im reading and writing
Check this out: https://lazyguidejp.github.io/jp-lazy-guide/
ooh thanks! this will definitely compliment my study style
I'm starting studying with genki 1. What's the best way to learn the vocab? I've got kana down, though slow to read them at the moment, I figure that comes with time. Should I make an anki deck of the vocab? Or is there a better way? Thanks
Re: Anki deck - you might want to take a look at Renshuu's Genki decks (app and website).
You might also want to check out the Kaishi 1.5k Anki deck.
For casual texting, do most japanese people care to pick the "right" kanji for words that have multiple "kanji faces" like 取る and 掛ける?
Like if someone was texting or chatting casually about taking a picture, would most people take the time to make sure they use 撮る specifically or just pick whichever comes up first or even just write とる?
I would like to say it depends on the person, but even the same exact person can have vastly different stylistic choices depending on the situation. e.g. the more formal, professional the situation--the more correct and proper choices and additional kanji conversions there are.
There is no blanket rule for this. Depends on the word and the situation. Which conversely means - you have a lot of degrees of freedom for how you want to handle this.
Depends entirely on the person and/or the word. Some word's specific kanji are fairly common for people who care (like 聞く vs 聴く) but some are less common and might feel more "tryhard" (like 会う vs 逢う), ignoring the extra nuance too.
Then you have stuff like 入れる instead of 淹れる which is technically incorrect and some people don't like it when you use お茶を入れる instead of お茶を淹れる but 淹 as a kanji "looks" more complicated and less common so there's also a lot of people who just use 入れる instead and don't care.
It's very 人それぞれ
For 'suru verbs', what's the difference between noun + する and をする? e.g. 練習する and 練習をする
Grammatically, <noun>をする works differently from <verb>する
That's the major difference, really. For example you can say <noun>の<noun>をする but you can't say <noun>の<verb>する because you can't attach の to a verb. Likewise you can't say <thing>を<noun>をする (like you can't say 日本語を勉強をする) because double を is wrong, but you can say <thing>を<verb>する (like 日本語を勉強する)
Outside of that, are they interchangeable? Like if I just say 勉強します, there's no difference in nuance to 勉強をします!
To fill in your missing example, you can also say 日本語の勉強をする.
what can i do to improve my kanji writing? i failed the kanken 2 by 12 points recently at least in part to my writing being sloppy but its just so hard to write neatly
https://preview.redd.it/y4o1u4t0z0cg1.jpeg?width=979&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c5b84fc5dbbe81ad2d908bc33225271e4bb952c6
I'm actually studying for Kanken 2 for the next session. Not the February one, but the one after that. Yeah, the way you're writing is exactly like how they say not to write in the practice books. I just scribble them when I'm studying and then on the test I write with clean straight lines and all the curves and hooks. I also write on the grid paper students in elementary school use to write Kanji.
Losing 12 points because of your writing. Painful.
It wasnt only ugly writing i did things like write the 力 in 募 as 刀 and other misses i can’t remember lol. Would you mind posting some of your writing? Good luck btw
I have no advice for the Kanken, just advice on how to write characters neater in general.
1) Practice on grid paper only instead of printer paper. Proportions are very important when writing characters, and your proportions are frequently off.
2) Review the basic dozen or so strokes that make up Chinese characters. Your strokes should be consistent and clearly distinguishable from each other. For example, your 方 component in 施 has a vertical line instead of a dot on top. “Long vertical line” and “dot” are two different strokes, and the stroke looks awkward because it’s somewhere in between those two. That could be excusable if you were consistent with it, but the exact same dot stroke at the top of the 言 in 設, for example, is written at a completely different angle! Being inconsistent like this makes your handwriting look messy.
3) if you want to get technical with it, you can read Hacking Chinese’s fantastic guide to character handwriting aesthetics. That will really help you grasp the finer details of proportions between strokes, like why your 青 or 苦 or 華 look not quite right.
Thank you. The example pics on that site look so good its unreal
Why do you find it hard to write neatly?