In this post I want to go over a Japanese expression that builds on a few fundamental grammar aspects to make an interesting result. The expression can be described in generic form as 〜してもしきれない (~shite mo shikirenai), but you can switch the “suru” verbs with any other verb. First, let’s look an example: この染み、拭いても拭ききれない (kono… Read More »
I’m proud to announce the release my first anthology of Japanese literature containing a diverse set of stories from several authors, published in parallel English/Japanese for Japanese learners.
Sometimes when I see a thread flying by on Twitter and feel strongly towards the subject matter I will consider chiming in, but the problem is that trying to present a proper counter-argument on Twitter can be tricky. Sure, you can use a bunch of Tweets, but it gets hard to read, and also directly… Read More »
In this post I’d like go over the Japanese verb 売れる (ureru) which can be a little tricky to understand. This verb is used fairly commonly in everyday life. First, let’s look at an example sentence: このテレビはよく売れるよ (kono terebi wa yoku ureru yo) When Japanese learners generally hear a sentence like the first time, they… Read More »
When learning a foreign language, knowing a diverse set of vocabulary words is an important requirement for becoming fluent. However, the number of words commonly used in everyday conversation is somewhat limited (at least compared to the number of words you would find in an average piece of literary fiction), and it’s also important to… Read More »
In this post I’d like to go over the meaning and derivation of the expression “どうにでもなれ” (dou ni demo nare). While this expression is made up of a bunch of basic words, the resultant meaning may surprise you. First, let’s look at the individual words with their basic meanings どう (dou) A question word that… Read More »
In this post I would like to go over the casual expression あるある (aru aru), which doesn’t have a literal parallel in English. I will also talk a little about where it is derived from. To give some context first to how you might see this phrase used, imagine an article titled “テレワークあるある” (terewaaku aru… Read More »
In this post I’d like to go over the common word 世話 (sewa) and some uses of it, including an important expression used in daily life. “Sewa”––usually written in kanji as “世話” and sometimes in hiragana as せわ––can be used for a variety of meanings. But I’d like to focus on the most common, and… Read More »
In this article I would like to describe how to express the idea of being “cool” in Japanese, along with a few related points. “Cool” has a bunch of meanings in English, so I want to clarify I am talking about the “stylish”, “fashionable” or “good” meaning, which isn’t related to temperature. The most common… Read More »
In Japanese, 嬉しい (ureshii) and 幸せ (shiawase) are two words that express happiness, but they have a very different connotation. “Ureshii” is more about a (potentially short-lived) feeling of pleasure or contentment, as in “You look happy today”, whereas “shiawase” is more about a big-picture (potentially long-term) state of happiness in terms of being fortunate… Read More »