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LANGUAGE: How to express degrees of hope with ように・てほしい・いのる and 〜といい JLPT N4
ように in combination with てほしい and いのる, and 〜といい can be used to express varying degrees of hope: Let’s see how ように・てほしい・いのる and 〜といい can be used to best convey our ‘hopeful’ sentiments: 〜といい I hope, It would be good You can use this when you’re just hoping that something good in your life will…
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LANGUAGE: How to use ‘It has been decided’ and ‘I decided on’ – 〜ことになる | 〜ことにする JLPT N4
〜ことになる and 〜ことにする both express that something has been decided on however the former can be used when factors outside of the speaker’s control made the decision, whilst the latter can be used when the speaker made the decision. They have similar grammar constructions but are subtly different in meaning. How to remember the difference…
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LANGUAGE: Express uncertainty – ‘Might’ and ‘May or may not’ – 〜かもしれない｜〜かどうか
かもしれません・かもしれない and かどうか are 2 ways to express uncertainty in Japanese. かもしれません・かもしれない has the nuance of something ‘might’ be whilst かどうか has the nuance of something ‘may or may not’ Here are a couple examples to express uncertainty using かもしれない and かどうか: かもしれません・かもしれない・Might JLPT N4 走れば終電に間に合うかもしれない。 はしればしゅうでんにまにあうかもしれない。 If I run I might make the last train in time. かどうか・May…
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JAPANESE GRAMMAR: ‘must do’ and ‘must not do’
This article is part of the ongoing series “Japanese: the trickier bits”, which delves deeper into some of the more confusing parts of the language. Read the whole series Primer If you are studying with the JLPT framework, you will come across ‘must do’ and ‘must not do’ at N4 level. If you’re like me…
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HOW TO: Manage your study time with Asana
The daily grind, get up, go to work, come home, relax, go to bed. Where does study time fit in? The answer: schedule your study time. Sounds scary, monotonous and just a bit like you’re still in the office, right? Well if you picture the end goal of improving your Japanese a little bit every…
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LANGUAGE STUDY: Don’t stop listening even if you’re lost
When you’re in the throes of conversation, listening intently to the Japanese dialogue you’ve worked up the courage to get involved with, it’s tempting to try and understand every single word being said, but forcing yourself into this nigh on impossible task is a recipe for disaster. The mind is a strange thing, so much…
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LANGUAGE STUDY: Knowing what to listen for
You’ve been there. You’re Japanese speaking friend has just reeled off a question in your direction, everyone looks at you, and all you can think to say is “すみませんさんわかりません”, only problem is you’ve said that about five times in as many minutes 🙁 “Why can’t I understand even though I’ve studied for hours everyday? “…
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