Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (August 02, 2022)

24 comments

1. Is there any pitch accent rules for the morae that come before and after a glottal stop (っ)?

2. Is there a difference between the volitional question and ば/たら どう ?

   Like

   行こうか

   行ったらどう

3. わ at the end of sentences? Basically everywhere it’s said it makes your speech sound feminine but I see it occasionally used by charas that aren’t supposed to seem feminine, just talking normally. So does it also have some other use or something?

4. I read this sentence in Tobira when reading about ことになっている, but my question is about a completely different part of the grammar in this sentence:

   At my house, you wash your own plate after a meal.

   私の家では、自分が使ったお皿を洗うことになっている。

   Why 自分が？ How exactly is this being used in this context grammar wise, and can you give me other examples to use this phrase to further solidify the concept? That way I can practice using it and mastering it!

   Thanks in advance!

5. I was a bit confused by this when I read it:

   > 名古屋で先頭の扉から下車する人はおらず、このデッキには僕らしかいなかった。

   For context, the characters in this book are riding the Shinkansen and looking at other passengers getting off the train. They are looking for someone specific (who they accuse of committing a crime).

   I think it just means something like, “There were no people getting off the train from the first door at Nagoya; we were the only people on the deck.”

   But I was wondering, why is おらず being used here (isn’t that 謙譲語?) whereas the rest of the sentence doesn’t seem to be in Keigo at all. Also why would they be talking of other customers using that word? Isn’t humble language used for yourself? I thought おる was humble…

6. これの他にほしいものはない。

   I found this sample sentence off a book for Japanese phrases, and it sorta put me off…

   It supposedly means “There’s nothing I want other than this.”, but I didn’t kinda register to me as to why it means like that…

   What does the “これの” mean here? I can comprehend what the “他にほしいものはない” means but the “これの” part is a bit fuzzy to me. Thanks very much! :DDDD

7. “少ない” is confusing to me. 少 means few but ない indicates negation in some contexts. It might help me to know more about how this word is made.

8. How are ～なければいけない、～なければならない、～なくてはならない、and ～ないとだめ different? When would each be used most appropriately?

9. quick question. I saw this today (presumably written by a native speaker, the subject of the article was about subject omission in Japanese): 名前を呼ばれた, meaning A name was called/They called my name.

   But couldn’t this also be “名前が呼ばれた”? Is ga no good here? The article has a blurb that says this “Why not 名前が呼ばれた but 名前を呼ばれた? When your belongings, not yourself, are directly affected by the action, the particle is ‘を’.” but I feel like I’ve heard/seen ga used in a sentence like this before. 😮

10. Hey guys! In this [tweet](https://twitter.com/ryokukablog/status/1547069941765279746?t=4WmGh8j3VtQpZX9rudklEA&s=19) @ryokukablog says

    >相棒呼びしてくれる平蔵くん泣いちゃう

    Which I understand to mean:

    >Heizou, who calls me 相棒, makes me cry.

    My question is how do you know who is crying in these types of sentences? Could this phrase ever be interpreted that Heizou is crying? Or is it always the speaker?

    Is there any sort of rule?

11. Is で particle used for things that are currently happening in the place or can you use it for things that already happened that the place?

12. Is it natural when you answering a question with a する verb, you just reply with only する?

    Example :

    あなたはよく家を掃除するの？

    いいえ、一年間に二回ぐらいする

13. I am having problems understanding a sentence from the JLPT N4 sample test. You have to construct this sentence by inserting the missing parts:

    >山田さんは ___ _x_ ___ ___ です。

    I constructed it like this:

    >山田さんは上手ひけるしギターも歌もです。

    *Mr. Yamada can play the guitar and sing well.*

    Is my construction and/or translation correct? What does ひける mean here? Is it the potential form of 引く “play” + し “and so on”?

    Source:

    https://www.jlpt.jp/e/samples/pdf/N4-mondai.pdf

14. 試験のことは忘れなさい。it seems negative sentence to me but it’s translation is – Forget about the exam. How?

15. 『オフ会は確かに行われていた。』　

    『男女五人程度。(…) 』　

    『うち二人。男子一人と女子一人と、オフ会後も三人で　会っている模様。』　

    『神社で会っているのが見えた。』

    I don’t get the third line. What are the うち二人? Who are the 三人? The others except the 二人? Or are the 二人 included?

16. I’m quite the beginner in Japanese (been learning it now for 2.5 weeks). I learned Hiragana and Katakana and was now starting to look for any books or other tools to start learning Kanji. What books or methods would you recommend for learning Kanji?

17. そして日本の技術力は世界的にも高く評価されている

    In this sentence what-s the role of も?Or what’s the difference in the sentence if it wasn’t there?

    Ty!

18. What is the difference between 笑える and 面白い if it’s about beeing funny? For example 君笑える/面白いんだもん

    Does 笑える has a negative nuance like “you are laughable” ? Or is it “you make me laugh”, but in this case what would be the difference with 笑わせる or 笑えさせる (not sure if this form exists)？

19. 外箱共に付属品完備、小さな小傷や擦れはございますが、 全体的に綺麗な商品になります。
    Saw this sentence on Amazon Japan and I can’t tell if it means the scratches and scuffs are on the box, the item/accessories inside the box, or both. The first part talks about the box and accessories, and the last part talks about the product as a whole.
    I want to say it’s just the box since I think that’s the main subject, but maybe something is implied that I’m not catching on to? Or maybe it’s intentionally vague?
    Thanks!

20. 夜も我慢をしないで、エアコンを使ってください。エアコンが好きではない人は、温度をあまり低くしないで扇風機と一緒に使ってください

    I’m a bit confused by the uses of で in these sentences. I’m assuming the で in 夜も我慢をしないで means “when”. Is this correct?

    I am also unsure as to why its use in “温度をあまり低くしないで” . It seems to me like an adjective phrase to mean “a fan that is not set too low”. If that’s correct, is it also correct to assume the で would be the particle for “use”?

    Thank you for the help!

    Edit: actually I might be an idiot lol. I think it’s the ないで “without doing” grammar point. So “without enduring the heat, use an AC” and “without turning the fan low, use it together with an AC”. Can anyone confirm?

21. Does どっかない mean どこにもない in 印どこ！？どっかない！？

22. [deleted]

23. Can someone help me make sense of the following sentence? (It’s a title of a text)
    文末の省略と意味の短縮形
    It’s about Japanese speech styles, and it’s something about “meaning of omission of [X] at end of sentences” or something? Google translate/Jisho are not very helpful here. They say that 省略 and 短縮形 both mean “abbreviation” which confuses me

24. 今までたくさん本を読んで来ましたが、これからも読んで行くつもりです…. Why is there in first sentence 来る and the in the second 行く????