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1500 questions
194
votes
5 answers
What's the difference between wa (は) and ga (が)?
When is it correct to use は but not が, and when is it correct to use が but not は? Are there any times when you can use either without changing the meaning of the sentence? How does switching change the meaning of a sentence?
nevan king
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149
votes
6 answers
Differences among -たら, なら, -と, -んだったら, -ば, etc
The Japanese language has a lot of patterns for "if" clauses. What are the differences among the following patterns and how do we choose to use one over the others?:
行くと
行ったら
行くなら
行けば
行くんだったら
行くのなら
行くとしたら
行くことになったら
行くならば
p/s: Please add any other…
Lukman
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140
votes
9 answers
What is the こと in sentences such as あなたのことが好きだ?
There were a lot of great answers here. I gave the checkmark to ento's answer because I felt it most completely explained all aspects of this use of こと. But many of the other answers are excellent, so if you're visiting this question for the first…
Derek Schaab
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130
votes
1 answer
What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?
As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】。 I play the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】のが好き【すき】です。 I like playing the piano.
ピアノを弾く【ひく】ことが好き【すき】だ。 I like playing the piano.
I had always…
Troyen
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109
votes
11 answers
How should I choose between [知]{し}る and わかる?
Both 知る and わかる get used for "know", "understand", "learn", "find out", and various other concepts. How do you know which to use when? Are there any rules to help you decide?
Additionally, both of these verbs regularly appear in several different…
Derek Schaab
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96
votes
4 answers
What is the difference between "に" and "には"?
The title should be pretty self-explanatory. What meanings does each convey? And in what kinds of circumstances would one be used instead of the other?
For example, what are the differences between these two sentences?
図書館に本がある。
図書館には本がある。
voithos
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92
votes
4 answers
What are the differences between じ and ぢ, and ず and づ?
The Japanese hiragana and katakana syllabaries can mostly be described as phonetic. But there are two exceptions, the two pairs of syllables modified to be voiced with the dakuten diacritic which turns them into homophones:
す (su) → ず (zu); つ (tsu)…
hippietrail
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82
votes
3 answers
When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?
Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a big attachment so I imagined that it could take a few minutes to be sent.) What I later realized is…
user27478
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79
votes
3 answers
Difference between -ていく and -てくる
Can someone explain the differences between v-ていく and v-てくる for me. I know that they both express some kind of ongoing action (like a place getting crowded). For example, what's the difference between 込んでいく and 込んでくる, or is it even possible to use…
nevan king
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79
votes
5 answers
When to use ください (kudasai) or お願いします (onegaishimasu) in requests?
When asking for something I seem to hear sentences end in both ください (kudasai) and お願いします (onegaishimasu). Is there a difference and how do I know when to use which?
hippietrail
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75
votes
4 answers
Is じゃないです equally correct as じゃありません?
Text books normally teach that the negative of です is じゃありません.
However it seems very common to hear native Japanese use じゃないです.
Is this slang or somehow less correct than じゃありません?
Would it be marked as incorrect in a JLPT exam?
If they are both…
Niall Murphy
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73
votes
7 answers
What is the difference between the negative forms -ず and -ぬ?
-ず and -ぬ are two alternatives to the negative form -ない / -ません. But I noticed that depending on the word, it's either -ず or -ぬ, although it seems like some words can take both suffixes. Some examples I have encountered:
-ず
知らず (lyric in song "タッチ"…
Lukman
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71
votes
4 answers
でも (demo) versus けど (kedo) to mean "but"
I learned that you can use でも (demo) at the beginning of a sentence to mean "but," and that you can use けど (kedo) at the end of a sentence to mean "though." However, I don't see a difference between these two.
For example, suppose someone says this:…
Alan C
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69
votes
4 answers
How to choose between "よん" (yon) vs "し" (shi) for "四" (4) and "しち" (shichi) vs "なな" (nana) for "七" (7)?
Two numbers in Japanese have two pronunciation alternatives.
四 / 4 can be pronounced either "よん" (yon) or "し" (shi)
七 / 7 can be pronounced either "しち" (shichi) or "なな" (nana)
I know that "し" (shi) can be avoided because it has the same…
hippietrail
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68
votes
1 answer
Why are the particles "は" (ha⇒wa), "へ" (he⇒e), and "を" (wo⇒o) not spelled phonetically?
As far as I know only three words (or particles) have irregular, non-phonetic spelling in Japanese:
"は" - The topic particle is pronounced "wa" but the kana is otherwise pronounced "ha"
"へ" - The movement towards particle is pronounced "e" but the…
hippietrail
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