Ohhh, that makes more sense then. Alright, I think I’m content with my understanding on it now. Thanks a lot man, I appreciate it.
Based off your reply, does that mean you read/are reading oreshura too?
1 Like
Completely unrelated, but I bought that, and plan to read it at some point. But I will probably go for SOA first 
1 Like
I’m probably using the wrong adjective, but does 小さい日本語が知る make sense?
日本語を少し分かる would be better. if you want to say you can speak a little, instead of just understanding, you can say 日本語を少し話せる.
小さい means small or little in the size sense. 少し and 少ない have to do with small quantities, with 少し being an adverb/noun and 少ない being an adjective.
2 Likes
The particle needs to be が rather than を, but the point about 小さい vs. 少し is on point.
2 Likes
Question is about the use of “あと” in this sentence:
遺体は別の場所で切断されたあと現場に遺棄された可能性が高いということです
I’m used to seeing あと used more like a preposition (I suppose)?
Something like:
あとは …
あとで …
But it looks like they’re using it as a noun modified by the phase “遺体は別の場所で切断された”
So it’s (Corpse was dismembered) (Type of After)
Am I looking at this the right way, seems odd to me.
Thanks
Yeah, thats what it looks like to me. Its just specifying that what it was after was “遺体は別の場所で切断された”, which I think you understand based off of your post.
You can see the same thing for this sentence:
台風が去ったあと , 数か所で電線が切れていた
“台風が去ったあと” Is just using “the passing of the typhoon” as an attributive verb for the noun “after” and leaves us with “after the passing of the typhoon”.
あと can be used in a lot of ways, so you’re sure to find even more stuff that seems odd at first.
(interesting sentence btw)
2 Likes
I have come across a use of でも that I don’t quite understand. Here are two example sentences I found on page 31 of キノの旅 with my attempted translation.
まるで珍獣でも発見したかのように言った。
He said it as if he had discovered a strange animal.
彼の顔には、まるで幽霊でも見たような驚愕の表情が浮かんでいた。
The expression on his face was frightful, as if he had seen a ghost.
It may or may not be very common in まるで～よう constructions. These happened to be the sentences I was able to find again.
It would be very helpful if someone could simply link me to an article that explains this. Thank you.
I keep getting confused between the じん and にん pronunciation for 人. Is there a grammar rule to choose between one or the other? Thanks!
These are some rules and patterns but it’s not always obvious.
1 Like
Idk if this counts as a grammar question but I think it’s close enough.
I’m a little puzzled on how to use 何か.
If it’s placed directly before a noun, does that make it like “any [noun]”?
For example,
(あなたは)何かスポーツをしていますか。
would be something like
“Do you play any sports?”
Could this sentence be translated another way?
I assume it has other uses as well. I looked around a bit on japanese.stackexchange but some of the responses didn’t seem to be sure and/or conflicting and jisho wasn’t much help.
As I understand it, 何か is a noun that means ‘something’ as in 箱の中に何かがありますか？‘Is there something in the box?’ And turns into ‘nothing’ with a negative verb. いいえ、何かがありません。(not sure if it actually needs that が, brainfart)
Not sure if this is helpful at all, sorry!
1 Like
from kotobank.jp:
なにか【何か】
something
手に何か黒い物を持っていた
He had something black in his hand.
階段か何かから落ちたそうだ
I hear he fell from the staircase or something.
何かほかに言いたいことがありますか
Do you have anything else to say?
何か新鮮な果物がありますか
Do you have any fresh fruit?
何かご用ですか
「What can I [Is there something I can] do for you?
何かにつけ思い出す
I am reminded of it quite frequently.
3 Likes
Hi. I’ve encountered the following example while I was doing my lessons:
「部首をわらうものは部首になく。
Someone who laughs over radicals will eventually cry over radicals.」
It seems like “will eventually cry over” is actually stored in 「になく」. Could someone kindly explain me this grammar?
It’s just a loose translation. There is no “eventually” there, and the tense is non-past, so the sentence only implies that you are laughing now and crying later. The dictionary form tense is usually understood as something concerning the future, if you want to stress the present you use the progressive form.
Xになく doesn’t necessarily mean that you are crying, it means that X gives you trouble or you are suffering from X.
2 Likes
Quick question about example sentence from Tobira:
車を止めたかったら、私の家の前に何台か止めることができますから、どうぞ。
I don’t quite understand the second part of the sentence. My translation is:
“If you want to stop the car, because some cars can stop in front of my house, go ahead.”
Is the speaker implying that there’s enough room, so it’s ok to go ahead?
Is “stop” confusing you? “Park” is a better translation, I’d say.
1 Like
Oh true, I was being way too literal. I didn’t realize it could also mean park. Thanks!