The "I found some Japanese I don't understand" thread.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

If they have the same meaning and usage, there’s probably negligible difference. Probably just depends which you feel like saying.

[vanandrewMember]

Thanks Mr.

Thanks Mark, appreciate your efforts.

[JoelMember]

Wait, I’m pretty sure Michael’s post is an answer to Mark’s question, not yours…

[vanandrewMember]

Really? Jolly good then. I’m just happy we’re all here leaning Japanese.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

Yeah, I should have said that I was answering Mark’s question :P I assumed Joel’s answer was sufficient for your question, so I didn’t make a point of mentioning the fact.

No harm done :D

[troutMember]

Mark (or anyone else),

dumb question here.  why does your question end with は ? Is this normal?

(見出す
見つけ出す
の違いは？)

[JoelMember]

It’s casual and/or a way of being indirect. The 何ですか part of the question is being inferred.

[troutMember]

Thanks Joel

[vanandrewMember]

Joel/Mark/Mr – sorry for the confusion – was in a mad rush yesterday.

[ShudoukenMember]

Hey, this might be a tough question :D

When watching J-Drama I often hear the word げいん (or げいいん) but I can’t find it anywhere in the dictionariesThe only thing I find is “ゲイン = gain” but I don’t think it’s what I’m looking for, or is it?

Here’s an example sentence:
This is from Last Cinderella Epsiode 9, one of the cast got hospitalized and they asked the nurse if it will get better soon, but she didn’t answer, and then someone said

日々の小かつが「げいん」でしょう

I’ve heard this word so much in several dramas, it’s so frustrating xD
Thanks very much :D

[JoelMember]

Is it possible what you heard was げんいん? The ん tends to get smoothed out a bit when it’s followed by an い.  In this context (though I’m not at all clear on what 小かつ is supposed to mean) it could be 原因 = “cause”.

[ShudoukenMember]

Thanks, that was it.

Sorry I made a little typo there, don’t know how it turned into 小かつ, should have proof-read it once more ^^
日々の食生活が原因でしょう .. now it totally makes sense :D

The ん in げんいん is not only smoothed out a bit it’s almost non-existent xD
Thanks a bunch ^_^

[JoelMember]

It’s more the tongue movements I was referring to. Rather than the tongue moving from the bottom of the mouth for え then touching the roof for ん and then back to the middle for い, colloquial speech gets lazy, and you just flick it up slightly for a sound like “ge-eh-in”.

ん followed by え does something similar, only it comes out more of a y-sound – so, for example, 千円 (せんえん) sounds kinda like “sen yen”. Or “sey-en”.

[SplythMember]

I’m having a problem understanding some kanji pronunciations.

For instance: 一つ

 

which means one thing and on the kanji page it looks like ひとつ is the how it’s pronounced

but when I hear it spoken it sounds like sh-to-tsu. But doesn’t ひ make a “hi” sound?

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by  Splyth.

[JoelMember]

Yeah, it’s “hi”. The apparent “sh” sound is a recording artefact (though “hi” does make a little bit of a hiss).

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