調子　・　都合　・　具合　・　加減

These make my head hurt. Any help?

I've seen them used in different situations, but I haven't really picked out what exactly the difference is. They seem pretty interchangeable, I'm just wondering if there are any clear distinctions.

These are all pretty much different.
調子 is like the condition of something, like a car or computer, so usually used when saying the condition is bad (悪い). "My car is not working well"
都合 is when a time or plan or something is convenient for you or not. "I can't make it tomorrow"
具合 is the condition of your health.
加減... not sure how this relates to the others, but on tv shows people always say 「いい加減にしろ」 (or something along those lines), which means something like "straighten up" or "get your act together."

As far as I know (which is not very far), that is how these are used, and are not really interchangeable.

That makes sense, but doesn't seem to always hold true.

I thought 調子 could be used to refer to your health as well, and is sorta interchangeable with 具合.

For example, found this with a quick search on Google:
私は胃の調子が悪いのですが

Also, I've seen 具合 used in reference to objects, as in this example:
我が家のＰＣメビウスの具合が悪いという記事を書いたが、今度は私の調子が悪い(T-T)
Edit: From this site, http://blog.goo.ne.jp/pika1214/e/93a508c...b64a025a15

So that one really confuses the hell out of me as far as 具合 and 調子.

I would go on to mention that the writer is using 私の調子 in regards to their health, as they say right after that:

咳は収まったが、鼻の調子が悪くて偏頭痛。

Here using 調子 in reference to their nose.

Also, perhaps 具合 can be used in reference to computers, as in "has a virus" or "my computer's sick".

The comments about 都合 though do seem to fit with what I've seen and I can now pretty much eliminate it (for the time being) from the confusion.

That use of 加減 is funny, hadn't seen that yet. Or at least, hadn't recognized I was hearing that yet. Are there any other common uses for it? I'd always thought it was a lesser used (and more generic) alternative to 具合 and 調子. Obviously, again, I'm confused by it though.

danieldesu Wrote:加減... not sure how this relates to the others, but on tv shows people always say 「いい加減にしろ」 (or something along those lines), which means something like "straighten up" or "get your act together."
.

Yes, exactly. Maybe also, "control yourself". I think literally it means "regulate yourself well". しろis the imperative form, i.e. - command. I've never seen it written, but heard it plenty of times - in ドラマ, but more often at home from my wife when I'm being a 悪い子. I imagine japanese parents use this quite often.

I guess 調子 has more something to do with rithm. 具合 has more to do with the material.
都合 has to do with a schedule. 加減 is your composure.

都合のいい日に => in a day that is convenient.
いい加減にしろ => mantain a good composure.
調子悪い => out of the usual pace
体の調子具合を確認しよう　=> let's check your phisical conditions

in context:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_ty...加減にしろ&aq=f

ok - that didn't work too well. Anyway, if you want to hear いい加減にしろ in context, just do a youtube search using those words. I guess that would work for most common phrases. Hey - new way to study!

Some of these are explained in the Daily Yoji here: http://thedailyyoji.blogspot.com/2009/03...st_06.html

Mentat - I liked your explanation as a simple basis of distinction. I guess there's some overlap in usage, but it's nice to think about them in that way. The idea behind 調子 especially as rhythm is interesting.

Nuriko - Okay, that website is awesome. I can't believe I hadn't seen it yet. Thanks for the link.

Here are usage notes from the Yahoo! Japan dictionary:

用法：　具合/調子　―　「からだの具合（調子）がいい」「機械の具合（調子）が悪い」などでは相通じて用いられる。◇「具合」は、「味の具合を見る」「客の集まり具合がいい」「今辞めるのは具合が悪い」のように、物事の状態や周囲の状況を実際に確かめていうのに用いることが多い。◇これに対して「調子」は、動き・勢いなどのようすを外部から感覚的にとらえていうことに用いて、「今日の彼はいつもと調子が違う」「その調子、その調子」「調子を合わせる」のように使う。◇類似の語に「加減」がある。「からだの加減が悪い」のように、「具合」や「調子」と同じように用いるほか、「風呂の加減をみる」のように、程度の意味もある。また、「ほろ酔い加減」「上向き加減」のように接尾語としても用いる。

So, it would seem that although 具合 and 調子 (and even sometimes 加減) are often interchangeable, 具合 is used more often as a factual statement (based on observation of the current state of things) regarding objects or current situations. 調子, on the other hand, is used more often with actions and conditions percieved sensually.

Based on that, I would say that the nuanced difference between the two terms is so fine that natives would probably have a hard time explaining the difference between the two. (I mean, imagine a Japanese person asking you "What's the difference between above and over?")

Finally, 加減 as noted in the usage note, is sometimes used interchangeably with 具合 and 調子, but as has been noted by other posters, it tends to get used fairly idiomatically. I.e., it's used in set phrases and sayings, and thus is not as frequently encountered as 具合 or 調子.

I reckon it's better not to worry about it so much. They’re all common words and once you hear them often enough, your brain will start to pick up the differences.

We've already established that 都合 is pretty different. 調子 and 具合 are similar and if you really want to analyze them in detail (which I don't recommend) a 国語 dictionary is your friend. Yahoo's one is pretty good. It has 7 meanings for 調子 and 5 for 具合, with examples.

Why do you want to differentiate them? This must be for productive purposes because you can obviously understand them when they're in context. If you've found situations that both 調子 and 具合 can be used – for example, to ask how someone is feeling - then that’s fine, you can use either in these situations, right?

Another thing that I find helps is something that you don't get in English – kanji! Looking at the kanji gives you a hint about how 調子 and 具合 could be different.

It also tells you a lot about 加減. 加 is an increase or to add and 減 is a reduction or to take away. So when someone says いい加減にしろ, I think about it as saying that you should balance things better, don't add too much or take too much away, get it right. An expression that I recently added to Anki was さじ加減. さじ is a spoon and this expression (in my mind) is about being careful and adding and taking away in spoonfuls.

wrightak Wrote:Another thing that I find helps is something that you don't get in English – kanji! Looking at the kanji gives you a hint about how 調子 and 具合 could be different.

It also tells you a lot about 加減. 加 is an increase or to add and 減 is a reduction or to take away. So when someone says いい加減にしろ, I think about it as saying that you should balance things better, don't add too much or take too much away, get it right. An expression that I recently added to Anki was さじ加減. さじ is a spoon and this expression (in my mind) is about being careful and adding and taking away in spoonfuls.

Brilliant!