Questions tagged [aspect]
相（アスペクト）. A verbal category mainly indicating the speaker's view of the temporal structure of the situation the clause describes, such as whether it is habitual or complete.
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Relative tense and absolute tense, is this how it’s determined?
相対テンス in 名詞修飾 is also true when it comes to アスペクト（テイル) or other forms like 〜てしまう, etc?
Regarding this post, there’s a reference here that helps people find out the tense of the sentence:
Reference: ...
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Is “〜てきた” with state-change verbs ambiguous or not?
I read incredibly conflicting information about this. What I mean is say “なってきた”, what I read is:
It means “It has become”, but implies a more gradual process than “なった” on it's own does.
It means “...
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「色んな意味を含む言葉」「色んな意味が含まれた言葉」
「色んな意味を含んでいて、説明しにくい言葉です」と言いたいのですが、検索数は思ったより少ないようだから、自然な言い方なのか不安です。
色んな意味を含んでいる言葉
色んな意味を含んだ言葉
色んな意味を含む言葉
色んな意味が含まれた言葉
色んな意味が含まれている言葉
色んな意味が含まれる言葉
どちらが自然に聞こえますか？
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the different behaviour of 熱狂する and 泣く in relative clauses set in the past
The following sentences contain relative clauses set in a past time frame:
1a) その歌手は熱狂するファンに取り囲まれていた。
1b) その歌手は熱狂したファンに取り囲まれていた。
1c) その歌手は熱狂しているファンに取り囲まれていた。
2a) その歌手は泣くファンに取り囲まれていた。
2b) ...
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dictionary forms expressing completion in relative clauses
I would like to focus on the verbs in bold:
その歌手は熱狂するファンに取り囲まれていた。
The singer was surrounded by excited fans.
(example sentence for 取り囲む from my copy of the "Junior Anchor" dictionary)
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Dictionary form used to talk about resulting state
In this sentence: 今日の3時までに届けてもらえるように連絡したんですけど、まだ届かないんです。The state is not yet delivered but I don't know why 届かない is used. Isn't 届いていない more appropriate here?
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-た verb form preceding ものか [duplicate]
A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar, p. 268:
"mono ka (2) - a phrase indicating that the speaker wants to do s.t. or is wondering what he/she shoould choose."
The examples they give ...
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するとしても・したとしても difference
For now, I think するとしても implies that even if you do... or will do (the actions have not been performed yet) and したとしても implies even if you did... (actions that already occurred and something in the ...
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"私の彼女はチリ人で、 学生ビザを使って日本に来ています。" - Why is this "she CAME to Japan" and not "is coming..."?
This is only my second question here. My level is somewhere in the N5 region.
My question is this:
私の彼女はチリ人で、 学生ビザを使って日本に来ています。
Both Deepl and the Japanese guy whose podcast this is taken from ...
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Difference between —るのでは and —たのでは
Are the following pairs of sentences equivalent?
1a そりゃ、落語を差向いで聞いたんじゃ、面白くもおかしくもない
1b そりゃ、落語を差向いで聞くんじゃ、面白くもおかしくもない
2a 店賃を払った上に小言を言われたんじゃぁ、間尺にあわねぇ
2b 店賃を払った上に小言を言われるんじゃぁ、間尺にあわねぇ
3a それでさ、...
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Function of ておく in 伝えておきます
ておく basically means to do something in advance/preparation, and 伝えておきます seems to be a common saying for "I will tell somebody", e.g.
素晴らしい披露宴だったと彼に伝えておきます。
I do not understand how does ておく ...
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What is the difference between 冷える and 冷えている?
I came across the following example sentence in a dictionary.
今晩は冷えますね。It’s cold tonight, isn’t it?
I thought 冷えます, being a verb, would mean "will become cold". But the translation above ...
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Understanding もらっている in this sentence
珠世さんに手当をしてもらっているが、怪我は完治してない
Why is the progressive used here?
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When is 早く寝てろ used as opposed to 早く寝ろ?
This question is about idiomatic usage of language. The grammatical side of the difference between 寝ろ and 寝てろ is clearly explained here. But I think there is another part of this question: in what ...
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Difference between イライラする and イライラしている
I already know that the ている expresses a state after an action ended, rather than a continuous aspect in some verbs, but in some contexts I wonder why the natives would opt for する instead of している.
“...
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なってる versus なる. Who is this sentence talking about?
The younger sister is worried about dog attacks. The older sister says this:
「そんなに心配することないわよ。もうどっかに行っちゃっていなくなってるわよ。」
There's no need to worry so much. You'll reach the point where you end up not ...
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その店で去年{○働いていた/×働いている}男性がテレビに出た。 - why is that?
According to this website (I think it is 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック), if there are no time adverbs in an adjective clause, you have to use ていた or ている to mean an action in the past.
However, if a time ...
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Why "We've worked" can't be in the past?
On Duolingo with the phrase "We've worked at this bakery since twenty eleven."
It doesn't accept 私たちは２０１１年からこのパン屋で働いていました. It says the correct answer is 私たちは2011年からこのパン屋で働いています
Why can't I ...
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Use cases of していない/してない
I've seen this form show up a few times. In a past Japanese class, I was told that it could be used in the sense of "I haven't done X yet", as in まだ宿題をしてない.
Also, I was told that 知っている in ...
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終わる to mean closed shop
Is it a natural or at least used way to say "closed" like in that example, using the verb 終わる ?
A : 今7時ですが、スーパーは終わりましたか。
B : いいえ、8時まで開いているはずですよ。
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What is the difference between ～てくれる and ～てくれている?
Someone I talked to on the internet said to me:
あなたみたいに面白いなと思ってくれてるお客さんはいるみたい、たまに…
The person was talking about a sentence I'd said earlier that people would probably think their restaurant was a ...
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What is the difference between していたりします and したりしています
For example
歌を歌ったりしていますか？
vs
歌を歌っていたりしますか？
Also for a sentence like this:
あなた、私が盗んだと思っていたりします？
vs
あなた、私が盗んだと思ったりしています？
I've asked a native speaker and apparently the second sentence seems more ...
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What に means in に迫っている?
I'm confused what に is doing in this sentence.
千二百年に一度という彗星の来訪が、いよいよひと月後に迫っています。
I wonder if this に specifies when 迫る will happen. If that's case, then why 迫る is in ている form not plain form?
Perhaps, ...
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Interpretations of できる and できている
Here are two lines (台詞) from different animes.
女の子って、何でできてる？ (放浪息子)
でも、それ、じゃ赤ちゃんってどうしてできるんだろう (苺ましまろ)
I'm wondering why the verb できる (make) appears in the different tenses but it's expressing same ...
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た particle usage in のど乾いた
I was watching an anime and the character said something along the lines of "のど乾{かわ}いたね～".
This would mean something like "I'm thirsty" (looking at the previous dialogues, this was ...
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Why 言ってます instead of 言います in 昔の自分に会えたら、言ってますよ?
けど、昔の自分に会えたら、言ってますよ。そんな悪い癖染み付く前にとっととやめろって。
I am not sure why 言っている is used rather than 言う. I would expect する after the conditional, e.g.「友達に会えれば、買い物に行きます。」(Tae Kim)
I would've used these:
昔の自分に会えたら、...
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Why 忘れてる in「来週（明日）には忘れてる」?
来週（明日）には忘れてる
Initially, this strikes me as odd, because I would expect 来週には忘れる. But it seems to make sense: "Come next week, (I) will have forgotten about it." How would 忘れる work ...
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になりました vs になっています
Can someone explain the difference between these two to me?
長い間日本語を勉強しなくて、下手になりました
長い間日本語を勉強しなくて、下手になっています
The way I understand it currently is that the first one indicates that at some point in ...
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コンタクトこっちで外しちゃっていた - ている／ていた difference?
For quick background information, the girl Chiyo was supposed to take a shower with her friend Mayumi but forgot her shampoo, so she went back out while she told Mayumi to go in ahead. In the meantime ...
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The implication of 段々 with a non-past verb (なります)
A sentence from my current favourite bugbear:
息子の成績が段々よくなります。
My son's grades are getting better and better. (given translation)
I have two problems with the given translation:
"getting better ...
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Why「なっていた」is used here?
I was reading a manga about a boy who turned into a girl. I found this odd line.
つまり... 目が覚めたら突然女の子になっていた... という事でいいですか?
When the girl-boy arrived at school, his kouhai didn't recognize him at first....
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What's the difference between V-るうちに and V-ているうちに?
My grammar book says: "V-ている is used more than V-る, but the pattern V-るうちに is sometimes used." Is there a difference in meaning or style between the two? When are they not interchangeable?
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ている in continuous or perfect aspects
I learned that ている can be used in both Continuous Tense and Perfect Tense, and with both instant state change verbs and durative verbs. If we consider only durative verbs (e.g. 食べる, 作る etc.)
When is ...
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How can I combine time markers with different verb tenses?
The original title of
Question:
Sentences with strange/Incorrect(from English point of view) [Time conjunctive][Conclusive verb form] combinations and aspects/nuances reflected?
I read this thread:
...
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Does ｖている with the following intransitive verb refer to expressing the present state
I was understanding the concept of ｖている and its implications on the intransitive verb. I have seen that, ｖている when used with punctual transitive verb, are used to focus on the present state (somewhat),...
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話します vs 話しています in a News Article
国は「中止していた特定技能の試験を外国でいつ始めることができるか考えたいと思います」と話しています。
Source:
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012450361000/k10012450361000.html
At the end, the sentence says:
話しています but I don’t get why the ...
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Difference between 感謝している and 感謝する
What's the difference between 感謝している and 感謝する? Looking at http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/skills/vocab/sentences/?vocabid=85961 , I get the impression that for the word 感謝, it is not as simple as one ...
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Past tense and continuous tense of verb (持った・持っている)
I was watching a Japanese video and it seems it is more accurate to say 傘を持った
rather then 傘を持っている to indicate that I am holding an umbrella. For example if someone asks "傘を持った？" the grammatically ...
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What is the difference between ながら and のに for expressing "despite"/"although"?
Both grammar points seem to express similar sentiments. But I had a practice question today which said
友だちは授業の教室が変わったと（ ）、教えてくれませんでした。
with two choices being 知りながら and 知るのに.
Both choices seem to ...
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Why is the plain negative in this sentence translated as "haven't"?
まだ部屋が暖まらない
I encountered this sentence in an Anki deck (core 10k) and I can't seem to wrap my head around it, specifically its translation. According to the deck, the English sentence is "The ...
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Why is "not knowing" 知らない and not e.g. 知っていない? [duplicate]
I remember reading a bit about this topic in the answer of another post, but I specifically wanted to make this its own question:
It seems to make sense that "to know" is typically 知っている, because 知る ...
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When is <verb stem>+かける's meaning to start and leave unfinished?
I recently learned that the construction +かける means to start something, but with an implication that the action was left unfinished:
ビールを飲みかけたことがあるんだけど、味を全然好きなかった。
"I've had a beer before, but I ...
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te form negative vs negative form (HW: やっていない, why not やらなかった or やっていなかった)
I've been studying Japanese here in Tokyo from scratch for a good 2 months now. I've been struggling with daily conversation but I try to improve each day by studying.
Lately, I am trying to ...
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まま and the particle に
弟はテレビをつけたままにしておいた
On Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar the translation is My younger brother left the TV on. I do not understand why にしておいた is needed. I checked and it means : do something in ...
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What should I use 来ません or 来ません でした
Which is the correct answer to the question もう ジョンさんは 来ましたか。
いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません。
or
いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません でした。
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ように translation help
Page seven in my book has the following text, which is linked to the next sentence on page seventeen.
貫くような衝撃が顎から脳天を突き抜け、次第に目の前が真っ白になってゆく感覚に襲われる中、耳には銀髪の外国人の興奮した声が入ってきていた。
(translation: The ...
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"If I have done that" in the continuous form? [duplicate]
I saw this sentence on TV:
日々心によぎる「あのとき こうしていれば」という言葉。。。
and I wonder why していれば is used here and not すれば.
When I asked my teacher he said it is an N1 grammar point, he tried to explain it to me ...
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Sleeping verbs and まで vs までに
So I was wondering, pretty much all of the sleep related verbs switch meaning with まで and までに.
Was it always like that? Or was there a time when ８時まで寝る meant "going to bed at 8"?
Or take the even ...
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How can 若い時 and ずっと work in this sentence?
I'm trying to write
"I have wanted to study Japanese from a young age"
And I have
"若い時に私は日本語をずっと勉強したいです."
Does this work? How can I make it more correct?
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Japanese grammar "てある” [duplicate]
So I just encountered the grammar "te aru" and according to Japanesetest4you it means that something has been done. They provide the following sentence as an example:
君の靴下も全部洗濯してある。
Kimi no ...
