Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [syntax]

統語論. Rules governing construction of phrases and sentences in a language.

Syntax describes the rules governing construction of phrases and sentences in a language. Distinguished from , which governs construction of individual words.

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"unfinished" sentences ending in particles like を, に and が

This is something I've always wondered about, but can't find any info about. When native speakers come across a sentence that ends ...を。, ...と。 or ...が！*, how do their brains parse it? Is it just a case of being able to guess what word would follow…
sebu
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What does ending a statement with 「っ」signify when coupled with 「・・・」?

I have seen a few sentences or exclamations that end a sentence with 「っ」. Specifically, I read the example below: ちなみに純文学について語れなんて言われても私には、無理・・・っ！ The following sentence is listed below (However I'm not sure it is a "new…
Chris
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夏目漱石‘s use of question marker かい for an open instead of closed (ie yes/no) question

Can anybody explain why かい is used in the following sentence from 第三夜 (Dream #3 - from Natsume Sōseki's Ten Nights of Dreams, 夢十夜): 自分が御前の眼はいつ潰れたのかいと聞くと、何昔からさと答えた。 "I asked [him] when [he] had gone blind to which [his] casual reply was "Oh, ages…
Tim
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Truncated adjective まっすぐ

I have a sentence in a book that goes like 甘い匂いのするまっきいろな花です。It is a kids book, so everything is in kana. I'm having trouble figuring out the bolded part. It talks about a dandelion in the context, so I assume that きいろ is 黄色(yellow), what is this…
Vasili Sviridov
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I do not understand らさん in this sentence

Here is the sentence:　 夫は涎らさんばかりの喜びようだ。 Her husband seems so happy he is almost drooling? That is, he is ecstatically happy? What is this? らさん
Robert
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What does と after volitional form mean?

What does と right after 乗り込もう mean in the following sentence? 一人で原始林へ乗り込もうとは君はなんて勇ましいんだ。
Dav7n
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What does してばかりいる mean?

I cannot get 干渉してばかりいる in the sentence below: 私の父はいつも私の私的な生活に干渉してばかりいる。
Dav7n
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Is this sentence structured correctly?

こんにちは! I'm new to this site and Japanese language. I haven't learnt the entire Hiragana alphabet yet and don't know any Katakana. I'm trying my best to stay away from Romaji, so please be aware that I am working at a very basic level! I want to be…
Kitty
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Is the "？" character an official character in Japanese syntax?

In English, "?" can end a sentence. In Japanese, can "？" ever end a sentence? With regard to the UNICODE standard character blocks: "。" ---> CJK_SYMBOLS_AND_PUNCTUATION // as expected "？" ---> HALFWIDTH_AND_FULLWIDTH_FORMS Is the "？" character an…
red shoe
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Should どれ always be the first part of a sentence?

I have two sentences: どれがあなたのペンですか？ あなたのペンはどれですか？ Are there any differences between the two sentences? I've heard that Japanese is a flexible language structure so I'm wondering if they are interchangeable?
Star Light
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Grammar and use of すればしただけ

I am having difficulty understanding this sentence. A comparison is being made to the effect that as the cruel feeling flowed out I washed the sea water out of the pants. But I am not sure about this. I understand that the だけ is the equivalent of…
Robert
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how do you say "to get someone to do something" in japanese?

In spanish, we can combine "to do" (hacer) with other verbs to create new actions. for example, "to get someone to sleep" it's "hacer dormir" (hacer = do , dormir = sleep) . In the same way we can combine "to do" with objects to create new actions…
Pablo
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Help creating a grammatically correct statement

Please pardon my ignorance but I am looking for a grammatically correct way to say, 'Embrace the void.' in Kanji/hiragana I've done some research regarding the different methods of writing it but I have no actual knowledge of japanese sentence…
Kelly
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Can 方 be taken out of some sentences without changing the meaning?

I've often found 方 to be quite abstract sometimes, and I've been thinking about it more when I saw this: ……杉山さんって、こういう感じの方なんですね…… To me it looks like the sentence would mean exactly the same thing if I took out の方 - "I can say with confidence that…
isodorasan
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The sentence structure of 内容を必ず確認のうえ

内容を必ず確認のうえ、平成29年度の申告書を作成してくだ さい。 I noticed that 内容を必ず確認のうえ is used quite frequently in banks' websites and financial documents, like in the above example. It must be something simple and well understood, but I have difficulty reconciling the…
user1602
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