Nagareboshi Wrote:I see. In the example sentences in DOAJG 滅多にない is translated with rarely, hardly, almost never, etc. So am I right in assuming that the only real difference is the frequency of occurence of something?

例: 滅多にない Very rare, hardly ever v.s. 殆どない hardly, rare, ...

The feeling I get from it is ほとんど〜ない isn't so much the frequency, but the amount. They barely help you out with anything.
滅多にない feels more like rarity to me. They barely ever help you out with anything.

I have no sources, but I think it's like that

Yeah, sorry 'hardly' is a big ambiguous. Asriel is right that it's amount vs frequency (ほとんど vs めったに).

what in the world does なでしこ mean? Ive been seeing it referenced so many times in reference to the world cup match that japan and USA just played. I also see it in conjuction with なでしこジャパン

なでしこジャパン is the nickname for the women's football team. なでしこ is a kind of flower.

どうすれば教えてくれますか？

is this asking how I will teach?

pudding cat Wrote:なでしこジャパン is the nickname for the women's football team. なでしこ is a kind of flower.

I assume there's also a reference in there to the 大和撫子 (but probably not one to 機動戦艦ナデシコ :-))

Reading the Kanji in Context Vol. 1 Workbook, I found this sentence:

昔はうちの裏は全部畑で、その間を小川が流れていて、魚が泳いでいた。

I can't figure what その間を is supposed to mean. I understand the expression その間 and その間に, but その間を? It's the first time I've seen を being used like that. Is there any difference between その間/その間に/その間を?

pudding cat Wrote:なでしこジャパン is the nickname for the women's football team. なでしこ is a kind of flower.

Also, there is:
大和撫子 やまとなでしこ woman who displays the feminine virtues of old Japan

yukimine Wrote:Reading the Kanji in Context Vol. 1 Workbook, I found this sentence:

昔はうちの裏は全部畑で、その間を小川が流れていて、魚が泳いでいた。

I can't figure what その間を is supposed to mean. I understand the expression その間 and その間に, but その間を? It's the first time I've seen を being used like that. Is there any difference between その間/その間に/その間を?

This is the use of を with a movement verb to mean "through" or the like. So the river is flowing through the space.

can some one tell me how to read this is how to translate it?
勝抜戦
the only conclusion is shou-nu-sen.

loverkanji Wrote:can some one tell me how to read this is how to translate it?
勝抜戦
the only conclusion is shou-nu-sen.

かちぬきせん, also written as 勝ち抜き戦, referring to an elimination tournament, is what I've gathered.

yeah it is a choice in a menu in some fighting game.

another thing that I cannot understand is sometimes people say ちゃった　or じゃった is this some kind of special dialect ? and what does it mean ? same as です or だた?

loverkanji Wrote:another thing that I cannot understand is sometimes people say ちゃった　or じゃった is this some kind of special dialect ? and what does it mean ? same as です or だた?

All your answers are right here.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/unintended.html

See - Using the casual version of 「～てしまう」

so this means something like "Oh damn, *whatever* happened" ?
the last time I heard it was some scene where children were playing hide and seek and when one of the kids was found said 見つかちゃった, so I could interpret it as "(damn) you found me" or "(damn) I was found" ?

That's correct.

awesome, thank you as always

That's sometimes what it means.

The basic meaning is a completed action, stemming from the basic meaning of the verb しまう (to put something away). You sometimes see it used in this basic meaning, with no additional connotations. For instance:
この仕事を全部やっちゃってから帰ります。
I will go home after I finish all this work.

However, more often it has the connotation of something unintended or unexpected. This is not always negative. You sometimes see 勝っちゃった to mean "I won [unexpectedly]" with no negative connotation.

However, in your specific example, I think it definitely does mean "Damn, you found me" or the like. I would say that the "damn"/"oops" meaning is the most common one, but you shouldn't forget that the others exist.

(The "unexpected" meaning is not really totally unrelated to the "completion"; I think the idea is that the thing is completed so you can't go back and change it, thus adding sort of an "oops" connotation.)

Aha, I see, thanks for clearing this up to me.

What does 「ルールを作りし者」 mean? Is it the same as 「ルールを作った者」?

BTW, is there a "guide to classical Japanese" on the web? Japanese pages are fine.
I have found this, but it's not really a guide; it's more like a reference grammar.

iSoron Wrote:What does 「ルールを作りし者」 mean? Is it the same as 「ルールを作った者」?

Yes.

Unfortunately I don't know of a classical grammar guide on the web...

Hello everyone, I have a quick question.

In my textbook, one of the vocabulary words is 不幸
As a noun, it is defined as "unhappiness," and as an adjective, "unhappy/unfortunate."
The example sentence and translation given are:

祖父が不幸にも亡くなった。
My grandfather's death was unfortunate.

I am confused as to why there is a も in there. I know that 不幸に can function as an adverb, but what nuance is achieved by adding the も? Or is it just a typo? As always, I appreciate your help.

tylerdevlin Wrote:祖父が不幸にも亡くなった。
My grandfather's death was unfortunate.

I am confused as to why there is a も in there. I know that 不幸に can function as an adverb, but what nuance is achieved by adding the も? Or is it just a typo? As always, I appreciate your help.

I'm not too much of a grammar expert, but I recall having seen stuff like 意外にもand 案外にも as well, so perhaps the attached も to the adverb (不幸 f.e. is also an na-adj.) emphasizes the unfortunatity of the event (death).
At least も does emphasize numbers/amounts in sentences like the following, so perhaps that's an explanation..

ジョンさんは漢字を４０００も知っています。
John knows AS MUCH AS 4000 kanji!!

も can mean "even" (not just "also"), so in uses like that it just adds some emphasis.

yudantaiteki Wrote:も can mean "even" (not just "also"), so in uses like that it just adds some emphasis.

I know but in this case も doesn't really seem to mean "even" or "also." If its purpose is simply to add emphasis, then I suppose that there is no good English equivalent. I'll just have to see it used a few more times in this manner to get totally used to it.