Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (July 23, 2022)

25 comments

1. What are some high level japanese insults natives use? I have to go beyond words like バカ and クソ and use words like 精薄 and 奇形児

2. In Japanese how are multiple vowels treated ?

   Like “おえ” is it “oye” or “owe”, like in the word “燃えます”

3. What is the difference between 討議 and 討論? When is one used and not the other? Are they terms for speech or only reading?

4. Kindly correct.

   昔は徹夜もできたんだ。でも今は、遅くまで寝ようとしていると頭痛するんだ｡ “*I used to be able to stay up all night. But now, sleeping late gives me headache.*”

5. Kindly correct.

   それは手で運びにくいなら、肩に担いだらどうですか？ “*If carrying it by hand is tiring, why don’t you carry it by your shoulder?*”

6. Back in the days I was studying kanji and saw the word 珠玉 for gem.

   I just met the word 宝石 and was asking myself what is the difference between both? Is it possible that 宝石 design the gem you find without any work, and that 珠玉 design the one you can find in a jewel ?

7. I know this is a stupid question… but how do you differentiate between katakana ‘ha’ and kanji ‘hachi’? I’m just starting on kanji, came across https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Easily_confused_Japanese_kana – the list of ‘kana with kanji’ is thankfully short. But some of them look pretty much identical!

   Just context, I suppose – and the font style..?

8. Is there a term in Japanese for the side of your hand opposite your thumb, or the “blade” of your hand?

9. This is as much of a history question as it is a Japanese question, so I don’t know if any of you guys will know, but I have seen several pictures of Imperial Japanese warships with their names written in hiragana/katakana horizontally. However, they are still written right to left. [Here](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/531fdb48e4b0e8fbe6259952/1475416529659-Z8WV5EA4GYUKWO4QR7JE/image-asset.jpeg?format=750w) is one example, but I’ve seen other ships written in the same way, so I am pretty sure it is intentional.

   Is the modern style where horizontal text is read left to right a more modern adaptation that occurred after WW2, or is there something else going on here?

10. Is there a set phrase to say : ‘I wish we see each other again in the future’ when it’s unlikely ? It’s for a story I am writing in which the characters are leaving the place where they and go to different directions.

    Thanks in advance.

11. Does the か in 逃がすか！ mean the same as ものか? I coul only find [this](https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/19539939) on hinative. But nothing else to the か or I more like I don’t even know what I should search for.

12. Can someone tell me what does this means about a girl’s action ? (and maybe some grammar explanation here )
    **髪を耳にかけている (>>my guess is she’s adjusting her side hair behind her ear ? but i’m not sure)**

13. 私は母に似ているらしい。
    Why is this sentence progressive? It doesn’t translate with -ing…

14. 何を食べますか
    Why does this sentence have future? Masu translates as present OR future regardless. What is the contexts that imposes future form?

15. So I’m about a month into learning Japanese… I taught myself how to speak Spanish… ***I actually can’t speak Spanish but because I lived there I learned how to communicate on the most basic, basic, basic level.***
    I live in the USA so I’m trying to bring what I’ve learned with Spanish and use it to learn Japanese.

    I do Duolingo on the bus or when I’m bored, and also a few other 5min a day lessions to get the basics in my head. I also try to write a few sentences a day before bed.

    Questions: If I do Duolingo and other similar apps everyday with the lowest amount of effort how much do you think I’d learn over time eg… 1 year?

    Second question I plan on using Genki 1 everyday but so far I’ve only skimmed through the first chapter… Should I write down and copy every japanese, kana, kanji, sentence, I read or is it like a work book???

    Final question do you see any flaws in my learning method or obvious rookie mistakes? Eg. 10-15 min Duolingo, 10 minutes of other apps, writing every Japanese word and sentence I read in genki I ~ 20 minutes, watching one anime episode 25mins, before bed trying to write down a few sentences from memory or just copying down my favorite gana or phrases ~10 minutes…. So all together about 65 – 75 minutes daily.

    Thank You!!!!

16. How to differentiate when “toka” is to exemplify a list and when “toka” is to say something uncertain? I keep coming across those two meanings in various guides, but I still can’t tell the difference.

17. are both まいさんはまりさんから手紙をもらわなかった and まいさんはまりさんに手紙をもらわなかった correct? Do they mean the same?

    I’m doing exercises from the Genki textbook and I was taught that when using もらう (in the “to get/receive something from someone” meaning) the particle に was used for the one who gave the thing. But on a specific exercise (translating “Mai didn’t receive a letter from Mari”) the answer sheet has the particle から being used so I began doubting I had understood what に would be used for in this case.

    edit: correction for example sentence

18. can you say 中高の時 when referring to being a middle and high school student? For example, 中高の時よくアニメを見てました。 Would a native speaker say that?

19. How would you translate もう！

    In the sense that the person is saying it in the beginning of a sentence out of frustration, I can’t think of an english equivalent

20. Was having some trouble with this:

    > 十六両編成の車両のどこかに爆弾を仕かけておかないとダメなんだからさ～～～

    I have a guess at what it means, but I should give some context. This is a mystery book about someone who has planted a bomb on the train.

    The characters here are discussing what they should do about it. I think they are saying here:

    “The bomb has to be planted somewhere on this sixteen car train”

    The part which is screwing me up is ておかない, but I have a guess as to how it works and maybe someone has time to tell me if this guess is right.

    ておかない(といけない)

    Basically the part in parenthesis is missing or maybe implied in the original passage.

    Is that right? That would make it make more sense to me.

21. What does ド do when it’s placed at the start of a word like for example “ド素人” ?

22. Can someone explain what 職場なら寝泊まりセット一通りそろえてあるし寝泊まりセットが揃ってるあたりがまた here means?

    The character stays at her workplace and does overtime work, because her home got destroyed and says following to someone else

    「どうせ今日はいえをなくした客でどこの宿もいっぱいだろうし職場なら寝泊まりセット一通りそろえてあるし寝泊まりセットが揃ってるあたりがまた…」「待て！」

    As I understand it 職場なら寝泊まりセット一通りそろえてあるし means there is a everything gathered (or that it CAN be gathered, since I am not sure if そろえる is potential form of そろう or the transitive verb) what she need if she sleeps at her workplace. But then she says nearly the same again 寝泊まりセットが揃ってるあたりがまた that the sleeping set is complete, not sure if あたりがまた means “surroundings again” and what else she wanted to say since she got disrupted.

23. Am I correct in that 僕 has sort of the nuance of some self-deprecating humility and perhaps some insecurity, whereas 俺 is the opposite, with some nuance of cocky boastfulness and confidence? Or is this just my 妄想? もしかして僕の妄想だけ? Thanks!

    In Chinese 僕 means servant, that’s why I am suspecting this.

24. Found this sentence online:

    >まず、なべにごはんと分量の水を入れます。

    Supposed to be translated as:

    >First, add rice and a certain amount of water to the pot.

    But i don’t get why it’s 分量の水. Shouldn’t “amount of water” be 水の分量?

    Thanks in advance!

25. Are there any good online programs for learning Japanese? Or are there any good in-person Japanese classes? I live in southwest Washington state, so Vancouver/ Portland would be fine to travel to as well. Thanks!