Category: Japanese Grammar

Today’s grammar point is ～にたいして/～たいし, which is used either to clarify the target of an action or to show a contrast between 2 things.

Today’s grammar point is ～にしたがって/～にしたがい. They are both a form of the verb （～に）したがう. ～にしたがって/～にしたがい can mean “in compliance with ～” or “as ～.”

くらべる/比べる means “to compare.” When we use くらべる as part of a sentence like, “compared with/to ～,” we use either ～に/とくらべて or ～に/とくらべると.

Today’s grammar point is きまっている, Depending on the particle used before きまっている, ～がきまっている, ～にきまっている and ～ときまっている all describe something quite different.

Today’s topic is ～にかんして/にかんしまして/にかんしての/にかんする. They are all a form of the verb 関する, which is an intransitive verb meaning “to be connected,” etc.

～に代わって/～に代わり means “in place of ～,” “in lieu of ～,” or “on behalf of ～.” ～に代わって sounds slightly more casual than ～に代わり but they are interchangeable.

かぎり in かぎりがある/ない means “limits” or “bounds.” so ～にかぎりがある means “there is a limit to ～.” ～にかぎりがない means “There is no limit to ～.”

Today’s grammar point is ～において/～における. They mean almost the same but while ～において makes an adverbial phrase, ～における is an adjectival phrase.

直す itself is a transitive verb meaning “to mend,” “to correct,” etc. but it can be used after the stem of a verb and ～なおす means “to do ～ again” or “to re do ～.”

～など、～なんか、～なんて all mean something like “such as ～,” “something like ～,” etc. This is my attempt to explain the differences among these three.

なれる（慣れる） is an intransitive verb that means “to get used to ～” or “(for something) to get familiarised with ～.” We usually use it in the form of …が ～に なれる.

I talked about ～なあ being used to express one’s wish but some wishes are expressed in the negative form of ～ないかなあ even though I am wishing for affirmative result

～な/～なあ is a sentence ending particle and used for softening an emotional statement, for an exclamation or to state the speaker’s wish.

～ども is like ～たち that changes a noun into plural but ～ども sounds a bit derogatory. For that reason, ～ども can be used for our own group as a humble expression.

～とも has the meanings of “all ～” or “inclusive of ～.” The kanji for that is 共 but in this meaning, we usually write it in Hiragana.

Today, I’m talking about ～とみえる which means almost the same as ～らしい. This ～とみえる follows a clause and it means “it seems ～.”

～とべつに or ～とはべつに means “apart from ～” or “separately from ～.” This は is for showing contrast, so if you use は, “apart from” part gets emphasised.

～とはかぎらない literally means “not limited to ～” and it’s used in “partial negation” which is often translated as “not always ～”, “not all are ～”, etc.