文月(ふみつき、ふづき)is the old name for July in Japanese. The kanji 文 can be pronounced in a few different ways and…
あります vs います
あります and います are both used in a sentence meaning, “there is/are ….” They are verbs to describe “existence.” This post explains when to use which.
はじめます and はじまります
Can you explain the difference between the following two sentences? (A): 授業(じゅぎょう)を始(はじ)めます。 (B): 授業(じゅぎょう)が始(はじ)まります。 (A) can be translated as “(Somebody…
土用(どよう)の丑(うし)の日(ひ)に鰻(うなぎ)を食(た)べます
https://retty.me/area/PRE26/ARE108/SUB10801/100001080437/photos/?kind=1 A while ago, I wrote in an article that traditionally Japan has many days on which we are set…
ノーチャージ
If you see "ノーチャージ" at the entrance of a bar, what would you do? As it says, "no charge," will…
寒(さむ)い or 冷(つめ)たい
寒(さむ)い or 冷(つめ)たい Both words mean "cold" but the usage is very different. さむい is generally used when the…
海の日(うみのひ)
浄土ヶ浜 2005 Today is the first day of a long weekend in Japan because Monday is a public holiday called…
渋い(しぶい)
Persimmons Last week, I wrote a passage about persimmons. There I put a word 渋み(しぶみ) in brackets as the translation…
ききます
先生の話を聴きます ききます is one of the most basic verb which students learn at a very early stage but it has…
富士山(ふじさん)
Mt.Fuji This is the photo of Mt. Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan. It is the most famous mountain in…
SIMフリー
Today is Tuesday, so I am going to talk about a katakana word that has a completely different meaning from…
骨(ほね)が折(お)れています
骨が折れています Last week I wrote “てForm + います” expresses an action being undertaken and that in English the same thing…
七夕(たなばた)
https://irotoridori.biz/how-to-make-a-fashionable-tanabata-ornament 七夕(たなばた) is translated as “Star Festival” and is observed on 7 July in many parts of Asia. It is…
live, know, love, believe, have, etc.
Do you know the Japanese words for these verbs? They are respectively: 住(す)んでいます 知(し)っています 愛(あい)しています 信(しん)じています 持(も)っています Yesterday, I…
てForm + います
Yesterday, I talked about how to use てform . Today, I will talk about one of the most basic usage…
Gion Festival 祇園祭(ぎおんまつり)
https://www.kyokanko.or.jp/gion/gyoji.html コンコンチキチン、コンチキチン This is the sound of Kyoto in July. The Gion Festival starts on the 1st of July and…
マンション
Before I moved to Australia, I used to live in a マンション in Kyoto! That had 5 floors up and…
How to get rid of the bitterness from persimmons
persimmons Do you know what this fruit is? Yes, the answer is persimmons, 柿(かき) in Japanese. It is my favourite…
てForm
As a native speaker of Japanese, I did not know thatてform is the first hurdle learners of Japanese face. …
水無月
https://www.mizuha-kitagawa.com/?p=278 On 1 June, I talked about the word 水無月(みなづき)but today I’m talking about the confectionery in Kyoto called 水無月.…