Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (May 21, 2023)

11 comments

1. What book would you recommend to learn how to write kanjis? I’m at intermediate level at speaking but I’ve not yet started to write.
   Thank you.

2. In the following sentence, could someone please help me understand the structure of what precedes は?

   一人暮らしを始めて最初のころは、寂しくてならなかった。

   It obviously means someone along the lines of “the first time I lived alone, in the beginning I was really sad.”

   How does 一人暮らしを始めて fit with 最初のころ?

   Could you say 一人暮らしの最初のころ and convey approximately the same thing?

3. What are the words for young and old people/person?
   I know that 新しい/古い means new and old for objects, I think.

4. In this sentence, is it clear whether the speaker actually bought the book?

   本を買って帰らなかった

   I was doing a practice problem and wasn’t sure why the second choice wasn’t acceptable.

   早く帰りたいんだが、母に頼まれた本を（ ）わけにはいかない。

   買って帰らない
   買わないで帰らない

   Thanks

5. Came across a Zhihu answer which claims that in Japanese when 竜 is used it generally refers to an evil dragon like in western fairy tales and when 龍 is used it generally refers to a good dragon like in Chinese mythology. Is this true? Thought 竜 was just shinjitai for 龍 with the latter being a more aesthetic character

6. What’s everyone’s opinion on the text “Japanese for busy people”? I finished the first book and kinda used to the style of it. I don’t know whether to get the second book or change to something that might be more useful.

7. **I’m having a hard time when trying to understand this part 結構になる meaning.**
   A character said this to a girl (T), while he’s eating with her (previously he found the girl in a forest , then he helped her by brought her back to a village ,then gave her some money to live in an inn )

   「思えば、森で T を見つけてから結構になるよな」

   Hope someone could explains to me the correct meaning ( my guess is :” …It’s been a while since ….” but i’m not sure)

8. so is 他動詞〜てあります just the same thing as 自動詞〜ています in the sense that the change of state remains during present time?

   so do 窓が開けてある and 窓が開いている mean the same thing, just with their own respective nuances of having been done by something else and the other happening on its own?

9. Okay maybe bit macabre of an example sentence but when I wanted to say “The moment (he) was hit by the explosion, he immediately died”

   Would
   爆発から当たられたの瞬間、即座に死んでしまいました。
   be correct?

   Is 当たる the right word for “to hit” in this context?
   Can I use 即座に to express “immediately” like this?

10. Can anyone help me in these [4 items](https://imgur.com/a/MLnLjEt) in the Unagibun N4 mock exam? Unfortunately they do not provide answer keys, (just shows your score) so I list down items that I wanted to review/revisit. *the underlined items are the answers I picked

11. There’s a piece of dialogue from persona 5, where a villain makes someone sick, and a character (Ryuji) gets upset:

    奥村 春:
    体調を崩した職員を病院まで送り届け、大通公苑に戻ってきた・・

    坂本竜司:
    なんて奴だよ、ゼッテー許せねえ。病人相手にあんなマネ

    高巻 杏:
    …竜司。

    坂本竜司
    ・悪い。

    At the end, Ryuji feels bad for having said something inappropriate I think. But I have difficulty understanding what he said.