{"id":180,"date":"2021-11-22T14:07:39","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T14:07:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/128.199.73.146\/?p=180"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T13:08:13","slug":"confusing-common-japanese-phrases-that-japanese-people-use-often","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/?p=180","title":{"rendered":"Confusing Common Japanese Phrases that Japanese People Use Often"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Read on italki<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

To avoid misunderstandings in conversations with Japanese people, check the meanings of Japanese conversation phrases that are polysemous and ambiguous.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Not all languages, not just Japanese, can be translated perfectly into other languages. Words used as conversational expressions are especially prone to misunderstandings<\/strong> due to differences in nuance and range of meaning. No one wants to be embarrassed by a misunderstanding, so speaking a second language can be an emotionally taxing task for anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help relieve some of this anxiety, I will introduce the meanings of three complicated conversational phrases that Japanese people often use<\/strong>, along with specific examples. Building up your knowledge of these conversational phrases will not only help you in your conversations but will also help you deepen your understanding of the Japanese books, movies, games, animes, etc you already know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u666e\u901a\u3060\u3063\u305f \u2013 \u201cdecent\u201d or \u201cboring\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u666e\u901a(\u3075\u3064\u3046) is a complicated word that can mean high, low or no interest. It’s like the English words “normal,” “ordinary,” and “average” all in the same word<\/strong>. For example, if you ask a Japanese person who went to a new restaurant what he thought of it, and he replies,\u300c\u666e\u901a\u3060\u3063\u305f\u300d. This answer itself can have three different meanings: “It was decent even though I didn’t expect it to be (high evaluation),” “It was boring even though I expected it to be (low evaluation),” and “I didn’t feel anything in particular (indifference). In order to determine the meaning, you need to pay attention to the context, the actual quality of the restaurant, and the speaker’s personality. Likewise, when you use the word, you have to be careful not to mislead others. You need to be careful about the way you say it and the tone of your voice so that the intended meaning is conveyed. The word \u666e\u901a is relatively casual,<\/strong> so it is best not to use it in formal situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

verb + \u3064\u3082\u308a \u2013 Noun used like modality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you look up the noun \u3064\u3082\u308a in the dictionary, you will usually find three or more completely different meanings, and you will end up not knowing what it means. Although \u3064\u3082\u308a is a noun, it is an expression like a modality, and when used in conversation, it has three main meanings: intention, conviction, and assumption.<\/strong> It is used after dictionary form<\/strong> of a verb, as in \u300c\u65c5\u884c\u306b\u884c\u304f\u3064\u3082\u308a\u3067\u3059\u300d(I intend to go on a trip), and implies “intention” when talking about the future. When it is used after the Ta-form<\/strong> of the verb, it means either “conviction” or “assumption”. The meaning is “conviction” in a realistic situation, such as \u300c\u8cb7\u3063\u305f\u3064\u3082\u308a\u3060\u3063\u305f\u300d(I thought I bought it), and “assumption” in a figurative situation, such as \u300c\u732b\u306b\u306a\u3063\u305f\u3064\u3082\u308a\u3067\u300d (Let\u2019s assume you are a cat,). There are exceptions, of course, but just remembering this trend will make it easier to predict the meaning. As an aside, \u3064\u3082\u308a is sometimes written in kanji in dictionaries (\u7a4d\u3082\u308a), but it is more commonly written in hiragana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 + noun \u2013 Not as \u201ccute” as you’d expect<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word “kawaii” is now accepted as an English word, but the Japanese word \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 does not necessarily mean “cute”. The word \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 has both positive and negative meanings, such as “cool, immature, trivial, genuine, small, unusual” etc.<\/strong> There are no restrictions on the target of the adjective. For example, \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044\u670d(\u3075\u304f) is often a complement to pure cuteness in appearance. However, \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044\u6027\u683c(\u305b\u3044\u304b\u304f) is usually interpreted as “sincere\u201d and \u201cgenuine\u201d. The term \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044\u554f\u984c(\u3082\u3093\u3060\u3044) means “a minor problem” and is often used in comparison to the more serious issue at hand. The word \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 is also used to praise a cool design, to describe something smaller than it needs to be or to critique the immaturity of someone’s words or actions. Also, even if it is meant to be positive, the act of directly telling someone of the opposite sex or superior that they are \u304b\u308f\u3044\u3044 can be considered rude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, conversational phrases in Japanese are often polysemous and ambiguous.<\/strong> When looking up the meanings of Japanese phrases, the Internet is a useful self-study resource, but there is often too much information to be certain of what is the correct answer. The most efficient way to study Japanese conversational phrases is to alternate between self-study and asking questions to native speakers <\/strong>to build up practical knowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To avoid misunderstandings in conversations with Japanese people, check the meanings of Japanese conversation phrases that are polysemous and ambiguous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1027,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/1027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/japanesemayuna.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}