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Japanese by Example

Learning through examples in manga

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Posted on November 3, 2018November 23, 2019

Words with 食

The kanji 食 relates to food and eating.

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Posted on October 29, 2018October 29, 2018

Wanting to do with ~たい

Appending たい to a verb stem expresses the speaker’s desire to perform an action.

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Posted on October 28, 2018November 23, 2019

Might with かもしれない

かもしれない is a combination of the interrogative particle か (questioning), the inclusive particle も (“even”), and the verb 知(しる) (“to know”) modified to the negative potential non-past 知(しれ)れない (“cannot be known”). Together, it means “cannot even be known whether”, which can be condensed to the word “might”.

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Posted on October 28, 2018February 16, 2019

Trying it out with ~てみる

When used as a helper auxiliary verb, 見る indicates trying something to see what it’s like to do, or what happens when it’s done. It appends to a verb in its て form, and is often written as みる.

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Posted on October 28, 2018February 1, 2019

Too much with ~すぎる

When 過(す)ぎる is used as a helper auxiliary verb, it is often written as すぎる. It may be appended to either the stem form of a verb or an adjective, or to a noun. It provides the meaning of a verb bring “too much”. It often (although not always) brings with it a negative connotation.

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Posted on October 28, 2018

Doing better with ~直す

The verb 直す loses its original meaning when it becomes a helper auxiliary verb. Appending 直す to a verb stem gives the meaning of re-doing an action, with the intention of doing it better than before.

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