Explanation of how certain synonyms are different would be a nice feature

For example, I was recently learning 予防 and 防止. They both mean prevention. Obviously, they’re not identical words and would have different usage scenarios, but WK has no explanation or information about that. The context sentences and alternate meanings don’t cut it. I feel like this is a case where you really need an explanation that compares the two and how they’re different.

Other examples:

period - 時期、期間

busy - 忙しい、多忙

overseas - 在外、海外、対外

end - 終わり、終了、末、and 果てる、終わる

unknown - 不明、不詳

And more.

I have mostly figured out the differences for these at this point, but I had to go to hinative or ask someone. It definitely feels like something missing from WK to me.

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They did a big overhaul of WK with added Contextualization just the past year.

You find it under Context, Patterns of use

for example for 昨今

Context

Patterns of Use

昨今〜 昨今の〜

Common Word Combinations

  • 昨今流行

recently trending

昨今人気

recently popular

昨今話題

a hot topic these days

Which narrows down how to use a word.

But, for full understanding of nuance, you just have to do your own research as you need to.

I think it makes sense to not overload people on here with the full scope of information about kanji and vocab. There are always additional synonyms, possible readings, antiquated word usage etc and I think it’s best to just learn them when you need to. Just like with English, there are overlaps in meaning and usage, but language/cultural reasons for one word being used in one context but not another. That’s a big topic!

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I agree, I find myself looking synonyms or more abstract words up because their usage is ambiguous. The context sentences help, but not always.

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Another example that recently confused me is 資金 vs 資本, which both means funds/capital.
I found out that 資本 is starting capital, which 資金 is the recurring funds required to keep running.

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Yeah but that would require work and we don’t don’t do that here.

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