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Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [nuances]

ニュアンス. Subtle differences between two seemingly interchangeable expressions.

This tag is for questions about helping you figure out exactly the right way to express yourself in Japanese. Questions in this tag should include samples of at least two phrases you're trying to distinguish.

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1659 questions
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What is the most natural way to refer to someone when you don't know their name and don't have a close relationship with them?

I wanted to mention to a female staff member in a shop that I visit every day that I had seen their photograph in the Shibuya shop. I was going to say: 渋谷店であなたの写真を見た。 ..but あなた seemed too intimate. If I knew their name, I could have said, for…
Stuart Woodward
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How to "shoo away" a sales clerk?

When I go window shopping, the sales clerk would usually come near me asking what I like. How should I politely shoo them away? Can I simply say いいえ、けっこうです or something like 自分で見る I know I can just ignore them and they get the body language…
Nap
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What's the difference in usage and nuance between やはり and やっぱり?

I know that we say にっぽん instead of にほん when we want to inject a little national pride into the word, but I've never had a good understanding of the difference in meaning/nuance/usage between やはり and やっぱり. I would guess that there is some variation…
Ali
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What's the difference between 去年 and 昨年?

I learned 去年 well before 昨年, so I just always use 去年 out of habit. But now I'm wondering if they really are interchangeable or if there's even a subtle difference that would make one more appropriate in some situations over the other. So are they…
Blavius
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11
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What is the nuance between 手数 and 手間?

I've found the dictionary definitions of 手数 and 手間, both that are translated to "time, labor": 手数 １ それをするのに要する動作・作業などの数。てかず。「―のかかる料理」 ２ 他人のためにことさらにかける手間。てかず。「お―でもよろしく」「お―をかけて恐縮です」 VS 手間 １ そのことをするのに費やされる時間や労力。「―を省く」「―がかかる」 ... ３…
silvermaple
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Difference between 完成させる and 完成する (transitive usage only)

Again, I am not referring to the intransitive usage of 完成する. Examples 文を完成させなさい。 文を完成しなさい。 夢を実現させた。 夢を実現した。 From my understanding of the grammar, させる implies that you could be making other people help you along as well, but I'm not sure, it seems…
user10937
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What is the purpose of the redundant "いい人" in this example sentence

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar has this example sentence: あの人はいい人はいい人だったけれど頑固だったね。 "He was indeed a good person, but he was stubborn, wasn't he?" What is the purpose of the "いい人は"? It reads to me as redundant: "That person. A good…
John K
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(noun) です vs. がある when either is appropriate

~するつもりです ~するつもりがある ~する予定です ~する予定がある These are just two examples. Obviously you can't stick in any noun, but I don't know if these fall into some well defined class either. Anyhow, are there any difference in nuance when formulating yourself one…
gibbon
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2 answers

Are 少女 【しょうじょ】, 少女 【おとめ】, 小女 【しょうじょ】 and 乙女 【おとめ】 fully interchangeable?

A search for 乙女 on jisho.org shows the word 少女 as a result, and doesn't give a distinction between the two terms, just listing that the word 少女 has "many forms": 少女 【しょうじょ】 少女 【おとめ】 小女 【しょうじょ】 乙女 【おとめ】 Are the four forms fully interchangeable, or…
Pedro A
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What's the difference between 気がする and ような気がする?

Compare: 何かを忘れた気がする。 何かを忘れたような気がする。 I feel like I forgot something. As far as I know, they both mean the same thing. What nuance does adding ような give?
idlackage
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Is 明鏡国語辞典 being over-prescriptive in its usage note for 「〜を買う」？

I was looking through some definitions in 明鏡 and I noticed the following 批判: 【表現】近年「批判される」に代えて、「批判を買う」という言い方があるが、不適切。 買う: ❸ 自分がもとになって相手に好ましくない思いを与え、それが自分に向けられる。 「仲間の反発［顰蹙］を➖」 …
Darius Jahandarie
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2 answers

Use of なさい in ごめんなさい

Why is なさい used in ごめんなさい when it is usually used as a command form?
Reece
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When does it make sense to use 「〜でない。」？

「〜でない。」, which isn't particularly common as a sentence-ender, does occasionally get used. I get the feeling it is pretty curt; I often see it with 「〜べきでない。」 or 「ただし、〜は、この限りでない。」 or 「〜は明らかでない。」, etc. However, I don't have a good understanding of when…
Darius Jahandarie
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When can どうも be used as 'hello'?

I noticed this on few occasions. Unfortunately, I can't remember exact situations. I want to clarify if どうも in a role of 'hello' is a shortened version of some longer phrase or just a phrase on its own. When is it okay to use it? Does it have any…
dimadesu
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Expressing "I like to "

I was trying to express the idea of "Like + do something", as in "I like to drink tea" or "I like to eat pasta". After a quick search I found that you can express it like this, omitting the parts to drink/to eat: 1a. (私は)パスタが好きです。 2a.…
Alenanno
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