Hi everyone! Thank you for visiting Maggie’s room.
Feel free to leave a message (Even just say Hello! 😉 ) or one or two simple questions. (I don’t do translations, checking your long writing or helping your homework for school here. )
Love you all! 🐶❤️
79 Comments
先生、こんにちは。
質問があります。教えていただけませんか。
１０００円の読み方は せん円です。
５１０００の読み方は ごまんせんえんです。あるいは ごまんいっせんえんです。
どちら 正しいですか。
先生、お願いします。
こんにちは、Ha Thao!
どちらも正しいですが、会話では”ごまんいっせんえん”の方が、はっきりわかるのでよく使われると思います。
先生、こんにちは。
はい、分かりました。
先生が返事してくれて、どうもありがとうございました。
どういたしまして❤️
Hello maggie sensei,
I want to ask something, how can I say “consistent” in Japanese?
let me write a sentence to make you understand better about my question
一貫して動画を作り続けることできっと視聴者も増えます
So is this 一貫して means “consistent”?
If I’m wrong please tell how to say “consistent” in japanese
Hello,
Yes, 一貫して means “consistent”
You can also say
常に〜作り続ける
Thank you very much maggie sensei
Anytime!
Hi Maggie, What is the difference between 悪業 and 悪行 ?
「悪業」と同じ読みの語に「悪行」があります。
「悪行」は、「人の道に外れた悪い行い。あっこう」。という意味です。
「悪業」も「悪行」も悪い行いをいいます。
しかし、「悪業」が、主に前世での悪事をいう点 が違います。
Please help me to understand the second sentence. Google translate don’t make sense.
Thanks.
Hi soleyman
The difference is 「悪業」 mainly means “misdeed” in one’s previous life.
Maggie Sensei,
Can you please tell me what’s differences of
ことにしている
ことにしていた
ことにする
ことにした
I’m so confused because their meaning looks like similar…
HI ルアン
OK, did you check my lesson? ことになる・する
Let me change one of my example sentence from that lesson.
Ex. 1) 毎朝、ジョギングをすることにしている = I make a habit of jogging every morning.
(focusing on your current habit)
You decided to jog every morning and you have been jogging for certain period of time.
Ex. 2) 毎朝、ジョギングをすることにしていた
= I used to jog every morning.
(talking about the past habit) You used to jog every morning but not anymore.
Ex. 3) 毎朝、ジョギングをすることにする
= I am going to jog every morning.
(expressing your decision “now”) You decided to go jogging every morning from now on.
Ex. 4) 毎朝、ジョギングをするすることにした
= I decided to jog every morning.
(expressing your decision that you made in past)
You have made up your mind (recently) to go jogging every morning from now on.
thank you very much Maggie sensei, you answer is very helpful and easy to understand
You’re very welcome, ルアン💖
Hello Maggie Sensei! Your lessons are on point and very helpful. This is what I really need to enjoy Japanese, unlike the one from textbook which is I guess more needed if you want to pass JLPT.
I have a question. What Japanese term is used to address the taxi driver? or someone on the street say for example you will ask something?
Hello jerikku
Happy to read your comment!
to address a taxi driver
If you talk to the driver directly, you say
運転手さん = うんてんしゅさん
Hello Maggie sensei
can you tell me the difference between ”nikui” and ”gatai”?
For example: 信じがたいことだが、これは事実だ。can i use this sentece with nikui?
Thanks you again!
Hello Rafael
にくい is more general.
がたい is more literal and you use it when something is extremely hard to do. The verb that you can use with がたい is very limited.
Hello Maggie Sensei,
can you tell me if my meaning is correct.
彼が「やりたいのにやらせてもらえない」という仕事は、本当に彼が満足できる仕事なのだろうか
He likes to do a job, that he has not given permission to do, but he could be fulfilled doing this job.
Hi Mark
OK,I’ll make this sentence more simple first so that you can see the structure.
The writer doubts that kind of job makes him satisfied or not.
( ~ という ) 仕事は、本当に満足できる仕事なのだろうか
I wonder if the job ( ) really makes him satisfied.
And the description of the job is
the job that he wants to do but not allowed to do
Hello Maggie sensei
Thank you for your lesson
I am sorry I want to ask you what is difference between
ふう and よう
In english it translates into same word (Seems or like)
I see that Japanese use it interchangeably in conversation
But in test (mostly JLPT), if you have to pick between those two choices
how do you differ them
(試験を受けるときに２つの単語を使い分けると簡単な見分ける方法があるかどうか聞いています）
どうもありがとうございます
Hello,
ふう = 風
1) style
和風 = わふう = Japanese style
フランス風 = French style
今風 = いまふう= modern (style)
X 和よう・フランスよう・ 今よう
2) way
こんな風に+ verb = to do something this way
どんな風に+verb = どんなふうに + verb = how to do something
Xこんなように X こんなように
のように + verb = to be/do like ~
マギーのようになりたい = I want to be like Maggie.
X マギーの風に
verb + ように + verb = to do something as someone does/did
マギーが言ったように私もがんばります。
I will work hard as Maggie told me.
Xマギーが言った風に
For more details ように, you can check my lesson
Thank you very much maggie sensei, you have been a great help
Anytime! JLPTがんばってくださいね。:)
お久しぶりです、Maggie先生！遅いけど、明けましておめでとうございます！
For the sentence below:
『AとBの他の違いが分かっていますが、これを誰かに説明するつもりなので間違ってることを教えてないかなって確かめたかったのです！』
I was told that the first が (the one after 違い) should be a は instead.
It’s been a while since I’ve struggled to differentiate between は and が、but I’m really stumped this time. I can’t tell why が is wrong. Are we only supposed to use は in the phrase before 「ですが」 or something？ If you’re able to explain, that’d be really awesome. Thank you!
Hi Sora!
今年もよろしくお願いしますね。☺️
The basic difference is
〜がわかる Focusing on the fact that you know something
〜はわかる Focusing on what you know. (or showing the contrast. Maybe I don’t know ~ but I KNOW ~ )
So when the two sentences are connected with “but” (ですが・ますが・けど) you show the contrast of the idea so you use は
Oh I see! Thank you so much 先生！
You’re very welcome, Sora!
Hello Maggie Sensei, I have a question about this phrase: 出来上がった料理を、お客さんのところに持っていってください。How can I use this ”agaru”? I thought it was just an verb, but i saw some other examples and i’m a bit confused. Other example: 研究のレポートを一日で書き上げた。
終わる and 上がる has the same meaning?
Thank you!
Hello Matt,
Verb+ 上がる: means ” finish up (doing something) /completed something
出来る to finish
出来上がる to finish up/to be completed
書く to write
書き上げる finish writing / complete one’s writing
You can say 書き終える as well.
書き上げる adds the nuance of “after all one’s work, it is finally done.”
Hello Maggie sensei! I wanted to know how one says: “Are you in line?” for courtesy purposes. Thank you!
Hello Leo,
You can say “並んでいますか？ = ならんでいますか？ = Narande imasu ka?”
Hello, Sensei
I need help (help regarding the use of “made”). I tried to post the comment in your lesson post, but it doesn’t make me post the comment (the error page comes out, saying my message is spam ), for this reason I write it here
I thought I understood the meaning of made, but I found a sentence where I can’t understand the meaning of “made”
The sentence is as follows: Yaku wo kimeru made owaraseru
what does it mean?
I thought it could mean “until …”, but the verb that follows it (owaraseru) confuses me.
(I don’t think it makes much sense to “let it finish until the role is decided”…..or does it mean “let me finish, until I decide the roles”? )
I’m so sorry for asking for help, but I would really like to understand everything well during my studies
Hi luli
Sorry that you couldn’t post your comment in “made” lesson.
Yaku wo kimeru made owaraseru
Where did you see the sentence? In your textbook??
“owaraseru” means “to make it finish/let it finish” so as you said, it doesn’t make sense.
It should be
役を決めるまで終われない/終わらない = Yaku wo kimeru made owarenai / owaranai
役が決まるまで終われない/終わらない = Yaku ga kimaru made owarenai/owaranai
= We can’t/won’t finish (this meeting) until we decide the roles.
Hello Maggie sensei,
Thanks for your lesson again
can you explain the differences between みたい・らしい and とか（で）？
For example: 二人は来年結婚するらしいです。
二人は来年結婚するみたいです。
二人は来年結婚するとか。
ありがとうございます！
Hi Rafael
They all could be the same but the basic differences are
〜らしい You heard/saw the information from someone.
~みたい You heard/saw the information from someone. Or you assume from what you have heard/saw. So it involves one’s assumption/judgement more. Compared to らしい, you are less certain about the fact.
〜とか simply means “I heard ~” and it doesn’t involves one’s judgement/assumption.
Thanks you again sensei. Just another question: is とか used in daily life conversations?
Not so much in casual conversation but some people use it in daily conversation.
Hello Maggie-sensei!
I just want to ask about differences between
― になる and になっている
ー になった and になってきた
for example
– 明日から寒くなります
– 明日から寒くなっていきます
both of them mean “it will be more cold from tomorrow” right?
or
– 日本に来てから、日本語が上手になってきた
– 日本に来てから、日本語が上手になった
“since i came to Japan, my Japanese become better”
it seems like the same :((, can you tell me how and when to use each of them please?
Hello ルアン
明日から寒くなります(focusing on the result more)
明日から寒くなっていきます(focusing on the process more)
They both can be translated “It will be cold from tomorrow” but なっていきます describes the gradual changes more vividly
So, “It will get colder from tomorrow” might work better.
The same thing you can say about these two sentences as well.
日本に来てから、日本語が上手になった My Japanese got better since I came to Japan. (focusing on the result more)
日本に来てから、日本語が上手になってきた My Japanese has been getting better since I came to Japan. (focusing on the process more)
Hello maggie sensei
thank you for your lesson
I want to ask something
when you meet the word 親等
I don’t really understand what it means
let’s say
2親等の親族
If I am a child of my father/mother
that means my grandfather/grandmother is 2親等の親族 ??
so where is 3親等の親族
Hi 貴教くん
親等 is the degree of relationship. Think you are “Zero”
The relationship between you and your parents is １親等
The relationship between you and your spouse, you and your children is １親等 as well.
２親等 is the relationship between you and your grandparents, you and your brothers/sisters
3親等 is the relationship between you and your uncle/aunt, their spouse, you and your nephew/niece. You and your great-grandparents
Hi Maggie-sensei! I wanted some advice on phrases that I could say in order to protect myself in case something happens, as I might be doing a solo trip to Japan once Covid has calmed and I’ve seen some worrying videos/comments. Any suggestions would be great, though how does one also go about saying “I’ll call the police”? どうもありがとう!
Hello Wulf
I don’t know what kind of situations but
警察を呼びますよ
Keisatsu wo yobimasu yo
= I’ll call the police, OK?
誰か警察を呼んでください (to people around you)
= Dareka keisatsu wo yonde kudasai
= Call the police, please.
誰か助けてください
= Dare ka tasukete kudasai
= Somebody help!/ Help me!
Hello Maggie Sensei
I have a question about Verb takei form and Verb て＋ある
Ex: 宿題はもうやってあります and 宿題はもうやった. if there is any difference, in what situation do I use it?
Hello Rafael
やってあります focuses on the result.→ The homework is done already.
And もうやった focuses on the action.→ I finished my homework.
Hello Maggie Sensei
Thank you for your lesson
Can I ask the polite word to say something like
やる気を出させる
or is it already polite?
example >
田中さんにやる気を出させたい
Hello,
First, you can’t say this to 田中さん directly because it implies 田中さん is not motivated now and it sounds impolite but if you are talking to the third person and 田中さん is not your boss, you can say
田中さんにやる気を出してもらいたいです→more polite 田中さんにやる気を出していただきたいです。
Thank you very much maggie sensei
regarding to question
I’m still confuse about how to use 貰う・頂く・呉れる
I will try to translate random sentences and please check whether it is correct or not based on Sensei opinion
田中さんにやる気を出して頂きたいです
(I want to have Tanaka san to be motivated)
彼女に食べさせて頂きたいです
(I want to have my girfriend to feed me)
その手見せてくれますか？
(Can you show your hand?)
彼女に食べさせて頂きたいです
If you are talking about your girlfriend, いただきます is strange.
彼女に食べさせてもらいたいです。is more natural.
The rest of them are good!
少し違和感があったのは多分文法的なではなくて風習かな？
ありがとうございます先生
どういたしまして
(FYI 風習 = traditional customs)
Hello Maggie Sensei,
What I like most about your website is that you give lots of example sentences for what you are discussing. It is very difficult to give exact translations from one language to another. Often, exact translations do not exist. So, you need many examples to learn to understand how a word or piece of grammar is used.
I have been learning Japanese for about 1 year, and I use your method to figure out the meaning of words used in anime. For example, one word which gave me some problems was 別に. A dictionary translation didn’t cover all of the situations where 別に was being used. I collected a page of examples from different anime, using both the target sentence as well as the previous sentence, to understand the context, and then figured out what all the different situations had in common. Success!
Another fun example was こらこら (usually said twice in this way). In this case, it is the tone of voice of the speaker which carries the subtle differences in meaning. I get a sense of progress when I begin to understand a language at the emotional level.
Here is something that I am not sure about. You almost never hear 私達 in anime. The more frequent word is 我々. At first I thought this is just rude/tough guy or casual language used in anime. 我々 in anime is used by crime bosses and demons from another dimension saying how they and their minions are going to take over the planet. But I have recently also heard the word being used in the real world (on television .. sports broadcasts). Now I wonder if 我々 is used when the speaker is representing, or speaking for, an organization. The word ‘we’ is used in this way in English, where ‘we’ = ‘the team’. F1 race drivers often talk this way in interviews. But English doesn’t have a separate word for this usage.
Is this an appropriate way to understand 我々 in the real (Japanese) world?
Yes, I know. Simple question, but big introduction. Sorry.
Michael
Hello Michael
Yes!! You are right.
You rarely hear people use 我々 in daily conversation except when a group member/representative (usually a man) refers to themselves, the group or an organization they represent 我々 in a formal speech.
(I like your introduction. Very interesting. )
Thanks for your reply, and for your patience with my long introduction.
It isn’t easy to learn how to use any language when you do not have exposure to that language in everyday life. I have been watching “unscripted” television programs (talk shows, game shows) to get a sense of how people talk normally, and also how different people talk differently. Language is a lot more fluid than a set of rules …
I agree with you. And I think they way you are learning language is excellent.
楽しんでがんばって！
Hello Maggie sensei. Can you explain me using of …. ようと/ような/ように
Hi Otabek
ようと: Verb volitional form
~ようとする trying to do ~
逃げようとする = nigeyou to suru = trying to escape
Check this lesson.
ような and ように both mean “like” the difference is
ような + noun
ように + verb
Check this lesson I explained the whole difference there.
Thank you very much
Anytime!
Sry wrong sentences please delete the previous
こんにちは、マギー先生
今日もマギー先生から助けを求めに来た
下記の文を見て間違いがあったら訂正してくださいませ
私は彼に１０００円を貸しました
来月になったら現金を返したいと思って彼の所に行きました
でも彼は返金を強く拒んだ
まるで彼は私が彼に借りっぱなししたいかのようです
Hello
OK, I don’t proofread/translate the sentences here but
来月になったら現金を返したいと思って彼の所に行きました
来月になったら〜行きました doesn’t make sense. 来月になったら ＋ future
翌月〜行きました
That means, you wanted to pay back money to him.
So →返してもらおうと思って
でも彼は返金を強く拒んだ
返金→お金を返すのを
まるで彼は私が彼に借りっぱなししたいかのようです
→Again, this sentence implies that you borrow the money.
Also 借りっぱなしにしたいかのよう is not natural.
How about 彼はお金を返すつもりはないようです。
大丈夫
アウベロン
ありがとう〜〜❤️
Hi Maggie sensei!
Thank you for your quick reply!
My question was solved perfectly, thanks a lot!
Your explanations are always helpful to understand Japanese grammar well.
Thanks again!
Thank YOU again for telling me about the mistake.
Hello Maggie Sensei.
what does
すでに食事の準備はできている。
mean?
I thought it means:
“The food has been prepared already”
Hello Mark,
Your translation is correct.
Or The meal is ready already.
Hello Maggie Sensei
あけましておめでとう～ございます
今年もよろしくおねがいいたします
I want to ask something
Is there any difference between
犠牲する、犠牲になる
犠牲させる、犠牲にする
分かりやすく説明すれば助かります
説明し難い場合があったら日本語で説明しても構いません
既に日本語をある程度学んだことがあるので結構理解出来ます
よろしくおねがいいたします
Hello 黒雲祓う春聯
明けましておめでとうございます！！
こちらこそ今年もよろしくお願いします。
まず、「犠牲する」 と「犠牲させる」 とは言いません。
犠牲になる： to be sacrificed, to fall victim to
自分が誰か、または何かの目的のために犠牲になる
犠牲にする：make a sacrifice of ~
何か、誰かを犠牲にする
という違いがあります。
ありがとうございますマギー先生
それなら、
「緊張する」と「緊張させる」と「緊張になる」と「緊張にする」の間に
正しい日本語を元にしてどちらが正解なのですか
「緊張」と「犠牲」は同じ名詞類なので私には少し分かりにくい
こちらの２つを簡単に見分けるにはどうすればいいか教えてくださいませ
追伸：コメントを何度も入力しても出てきません
もし重複のコメントがあったら過剰な部分部分を消してくださいませ
黒雲祓う春聯
重複したコメント一つ消しておきました。
今、Cacheの調子が悪いのでコメントがすぐに表示されない不具合が出ています。
でも私はどんなコメントも全て読みますのでもし同じことが起きたら時間を置いてまたチェックしてみてくださいね。
「緊張する」 to be nervous
「緊張させる」 to make someone nervous
「緊張になる」 「緊張にする」 とは言いません。
承知しました。
これからその文法に従うようにします
ありがとうございます
どういたしまして❤️
みなさん、明けましておめでとうございます！
今年もよろしくお願いします！
Happy New Year, everyone!
From Maggie
Hello Maggie,
Is your website working correctly? I sometimes use VPN for my web browsing.
When I use a Japanese or Australian server, then I can see this page (Maggie’s room 2022). However, when I log in from Europe or North America, then this page is empty .. I cannot see the comment field.
I do have a question/comment about Japanese language, but I will wait until I know your site is working correctly.
Thanks,
Michael
Hello Michael
Thank you for letting me know the problem.
Hmm I don’t know why but it must be some kind of glitch.
But please feel free to leave a comment/question anyway.
あけましておめでとうございます、maggie sensei！！
Thank you for your explanation about the difference between わざわざ＆せっかく.
But I have one question about the example sentence below.
❌ 彼はせっかく東京まで会いに来てくれたのに私は大阪にいて会えなかった。
Is this sentence still ❌（no good)? I think this sentence was revised from 「✖️彼はせっかく東京まで私に会いに来た。」(wrong sentence). I think the revised one seems correct.
Hello kkchn
明けましておめでとうございます！
Ahh that ❌ was a mistake. I must have copied the part of the sentence and forgot to erase ❌
彼はせっかく東京まで会いに来てくれたのに私は大阪にいて会えなかった。 is a correct sentence.
Thank you for spotting the mistake and sorry to make you confused.
I will fix the lesson right away.