New Maggi’s Room (2024)

Hi everyone! Thank you for visiting Maggie’s room.  Feel free to leave a message (Even just say Hello! 👋 )  I don’t do translations, check your long writing or help your homework for school here but I can answer one or two simple Japanese questions. Love you all! 🐶❤️

44 Comments

  1. Hi Maggie-sensei. I don’t have any question, I just want to thank you for creating this super helpful site. I managed to pass N3 this year, thanks to your fun and clear (and cute!) explanations of scary Japanese grammar rules (lol) ^_^ ありがとうございます！これからもよろしくお願いします。

    Reply

    1. Hello Noi
      Thank you for your kind words.
      そして、N3合格おめでとうございます！！！　私もうれしいです！！
      こちらこそこれからもよろしくお願いします。🐶❤️

      Reply

  2. Good evening Maggie. I have a question about the kanji 一言
    Does this kanji mean both “a word” and “a short phrase”?

    Reply

    1. Hi Breano
      Yes, that’s right. It means “a word” but you can use it for a few words/brief speech
      一言で言うと = If I put it in one word ~
      一言言ってもいいですか？ = Can I say something? / Can I say a few words?
      一言、スピーチをお願いします。= Could you give a brief speech?

      Reply

  3. Good evening Maggie. I have doubts about some phrases.
    1) Does the 政府役人 part of the sentence 政府役人の豪邸が略奪された make sense? I searched but couldn’t find anything on the subject.
    2) What is the function of として in words like 突如として? From what I researched, 突如として and 突如 have the same meaning.

    Reply

    1. Hi Daniel
      1) Yes, it make sense. It is talking about a mansion ( = 豪邸) and the mansion belongs to 政府役人 = 政府の役人 = government official

      2) 突如として is an expression, suddenly and you can use it without として
      So you are right. They have the same meaning. ~として is a more formal expression.

      Reply

      1. Good evening Maggie. Thanks for the answer.

        But I have one more doubt. I came across the adjective 漠然とした and realized that it means vague. What is the difference between using として or とした after an adjective?

        Reply

        1. Hello again Daniel
          The difference between として and とした
          〜とした + noun
          Ex. 漠然とした態度
          ~として + verb/sentence
          Ex. ( ~は、)漠然としている

          Reply

  4. Good evening Maggie. I would like to know what the function of どの is in the following sentence: どの群れにも必ず黒い羊がいる.

    Reply

      1. Thanks for the response Maggie. But I still have a doubt. I thought どの meant which or which way. Why was this sentence translated the way you did?

        Reply

        1. You are right. どの means “which” but どの (dono) can be used as “which” or “any/every,” depending on the context.
          Ex. どの国もインフレに苦しんでいる。 Every country is suffering from inflation.
          Ex. このレストランは、どの料理も美味しい。Every dish at this restaurant is delicious

          Reply

  5. こんにちは先生。
    Since potential verb form is the same as passive verb form, how would you make a both potential and passive verb?
    Example sentence: He can’t be stopped.
    Something like 止められることをできない?? Seems weird. How do you do it?

    Reply

    1. こんにちは、Terry
      I would say it is not common to use passive form + できない because it looks/sounds confusing.
      He can’t be stopped. : The most natural way to say this in Japanese is to say would be
      “I/We can’t stop him.”
      →彼を止められない or 彼を止めることはできない (Nobody can stop him.”誰も彼を止められない・誰も彼を止めることはできない)
      If you want to use a passive form, it is a less direct but you say
      彼は止めらることはない

      Reply

  6. Good evening Maggie. I discovered the following phrase 三角形で、先がとても鋭利な形状だ。and I had some doubts.

    1) Does this sentence make sense grammatically?
    2) I translated this sentence as: It has a triangular shape and the ends are quite sharp. Is this translation correct?

    Reply

  7. I was having trouble understanding what 言う辺り means in this sentence from a popular light novel- なんでもないことのように言うあたりが、とても思いつきの噓に思えずロレンスはか固唾を飲んでしまったが、ハッとしてホロの口元に目をやった

    Thank you in advance

    Reply

  8. Hi Maggie Sensei, I’ve been studying Japanese for 3 years now. My current book at school is TRY N2 (although I don’t feel at all I am N2, not even N3).

    I have a question regarding the structure of Japanese grammar. Basically TRY and also other books I have seen don’t really teach you grammar as in western languages. Rather, it is full of this forms (e.g. niyotte, nitotte, nitaishite, monda, bakarida, etc.) that sound very much like idiomatic expressions to me.

    So far everything looks very random, which makes it also more difficult to learn and memorize.

    Are those “expressions” qualified collectively somehow? And is there any actual classification/categorization or any booklet summarizing them in a structured way (e.g. by topic, use, scope) to make it easier to memorize?

    Thank you in advance!

    Reply

    1. Hi Kuki
      First of all, I apologize. I have to admit, my site is pretty random 😆, but I believe there are many excellent Japanese learning sites that provide good classification and categorization in a structured way.

      I think many of them are categorized by JLPT level. So, JLPT websites or textbooks might offer better categorization.

      Learning Japanese grammar could be quite different from learning Western languages. In Western languages, grammar is often taught separately from vocabulary and expressions, focusing on things like tense and conjugation, conditional forms at different levels. But with Japanese, especially in JLPT study materials, the focus is not just on grammar but also on using expressions effectively.
      I understand it could be confusing, but I believe that if you already know the basic grammar, all you need to do is to build complicated sentences and increase your range of expressions, which would help.

      Reply

      1. Hi thank you for your kind reply. Just to be clear, I wasn’t referring to your site but to the textbooks, I find them pretty random, which is surprising for a textbook imho!

        Reply

  9. Good evening Maggie. I was looking at the definition of 風格 and came across the following definition: 味わい。趣。
    Can you tell me what it means? I’m trying to find out but I’m not having any success.

    Reply

    1. 風格
      If you are talking about a person,
      あの人は風格がある
      He/She has a presence. (to have dignified presence)
      You can also describe classy buildings, houses, area, streets with 風格

      味わいがある/趣がある
      You don’t usually use these words to describe a person.
      味わいがある = the place has got a style
      趣がある = quaint

      Reply

      1. So, if I understand correctly, 風格 and 味わい have the same meaning, but 風格 refers to people and things while 味わい mainly refers to things.

        Reply

  10. Good evening Maggie. I would like to know if the following sentence is grammatically correct: 彼女は亡くなった夫の冷凍精子を用いて受精した。

    Reply

  11. Maggie Sensei, あけましておめでとうございます。(.. if it is not too late to say this).

    Would you be interested in reading about some of my most recent language learning experiences in Japan? I think you will find it interesting. I don’t think it would be appropriate to post it here. I could send to your email address (which I already have), if that is OK. Then you can read at your leisure, whenever you have some time.

    Michael

    Reply

    1. Hi Michael

      あけましておめでとうございます！
      Yes, I’d love to read your experiences. Sent it by email.
      楽しみにしています。

      Maggie

      Reply

  12. just found out this website, i think is really wholesome that youve been doing this for so long , you can tell when someone puts love in what they do. thanks for your work, ill check some of your lessons.

    Reply

  13. Good evening Maggie. I came across the following phrase: 幽閉 – ある場所に閉じこめて外に出さないこと。and I had some doubts.
    1) In this sentence, is 外に read as ほかに or そとに?
    2) When do I use 外に (ほかに) instead of 外に (そとに)? Can you give me an example?
    3) I searched the internet and discovered on a website the following word 外に出さない. Is this an expression?

    Reply

    1. Hi Angelo

      The meaning of 幽閉/閉じ込めること is confinement/lock ~ in
      外に出さない = そとにださない = Not let that person outside
      It is not a set expression but 外 means outside so you can figure out the meaning.
      ほか: When you use this word as “others/another”, you use the kanji 他
      You read 外, ほか in expressions like

      思いの外 = おもいのほか = unexpectedly.

      Reply

  14. Good afternoon Maggie. I have some questions that I would like you to answer.

    1) In the sentence この問題が解けなかったら、罰ゲームが待っていますよ！, the verb 解けなかったら is derived from 解ける or解く? I’m having trouble figuring this out.

    2) In the sentence もうお利口さんにしないとお仕置きしますよ。, what is the function of しない? I researched and I think it has the function of: to serve as; to act as; to work as; , but I’m not sure and would like confirmation.

    Reply

    1. Hello Matheus,

      1) 解けなかったら is from 解ける (to be able to solve)
      解ける is a potential form of 解く
      問題が解ける/解けない (can solve/can’t solve)
      問題を解く/解かない (involves one’s will)

      If you use the verb form 解く, the sentence will be
      この問題を解かなかったら　〜

      2) That する/しない means “to (try) be/act/behave”
      お利口さんにする = to be good/behave well

      Reply

    1. Happy New Year Maggie Sensei! Thanks for all you do for us!

      I hope this is the year we all finally achieve our New Year’s resolutions! (Mine is learning Japanese…and then becoming a host for a kids TV show that teaches English! Dream big! XD)

      Reply

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