i dunno about everyone else, but sometimes i feel like i have half a million stupid questions in my head that seem too small to make a post about. then, of course, when i want to actually remember them, ive totally forgotten!

so, um, how about if we have a thread like this for mini-questions? At least, if nobody knows the answers, well, at least they're written down to remember...

either in japanese or english is good

ok, here's one to start with...
i've just moved on to subs2srsing 絶対彼氏 zettai kareshi, and the voices seem different (like the barwoman) from in oh! my girl, which was the last thing i srsed some of. Anyone know if it's a different accent? (or where it's set?) Or is it in my head? tyty

Ironically your topic title prompted me to remember a little question I had a couple days ago.

What exactly is the difference between 小さい　and 小さな? I've seen both, and to me they seem to mean the same thing, but I'm sure they have different nuances. As far as I can tell one is an い-adjective and one is a な-adjective, but other than that I have no idea why to use one and not the other. Any help?

From what I remember 小さい is used for something that is tanglible/physical etc. where as 小さな is used for something intanglible, like these questions, hence the title. Same applies for 大きい、大きな etc.

EDIT: I was just looking through a book I have and they were using 大きな to describe buildings. So I guess my explanation probably isn't correct.

Other than 小さい can live alone and that 小さな needs a name besides it.

That makes perfect sense, thank you!

IceCream Wrote:ok, here's one to start with...
i've just moved on to subs2srsing 絶対彼氏 zettai kareshi, and the voices seem different (like the barwoman) from in oh! my girl, which was the last thing i srsed some of. Anyone know if it's a different accent? (or where it's set?) Or is it in my head? tyty

Different compared to what? Does the barwoman sound different from when you last heard her?

IceCream Wrote:hehe no, i havent heard her before, shes just where i 1st noticed it. some of the other characters sound different too. But the guy whos the robot is the same guy as in the other one, and he sounds the same, so it surprised me...

That, uh... clears things right up.^^

On　小さい:

http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/...1313570168

One is more objective according to the second response here.

Not all i-adjectives take な, 小さな and 大きな are anomalies.

より means that the thing that follows it is more than the thing that precedes it. In this case, there is nothing preceding either of them, so they both simply mean 'comparatively more'.

さ demonstrates a quantity of whatever the adjective is. 大きさ = 'bigness' = size.

I think the point to take note of there is that it's はより and not simply より, in which case it would be 'more objective than 小さい'.

IceCream Wrote:hmm, i will have to read より and ほう more carefully now, i was thinking they were straightforward less than / more than.

Well, they still are more or less straightforward. It's just that you don't have to mention explicitly what you're comparing something to, as you may not even be comparing it to anything in particular in your mind. それより高いもの, something more expensive than that. より高いもの, something more expensive (than something else/things in general), relatively expensive. ～のほうがいい (and whatever else) is similar in that you very frequently do not mention what this way is supposed to be better than. It's just better. (Actually, the whole 'better' part is just implied anyway)

As Albion mentioned, the key part of that sentence was that は separated 小さい from より. 「小さい」はより could never mean 'more than 小さい', because 「小さい」は is a completely different part of the sentence grammatically. Other examples aren't as cut and dry, but it generally doesn't cause any problems if you're aware of how it can be used.

Hi,

I think the さ ending changes an いadjective into a noun.　重さ　（weight). 高さ　（height).

j