Japanese Language

Hello everyone, and welcome to our daily JLPT thread! Let's hope we keep growing as a community. I've seen a lot of growth in this sub, and last thread even got one comment, which is already pretty impressive for such a grassroots place! Let's talk about more Japanese grammar from now on!

本日の文法：JLPTN3の「～によって」

～によって Is a structure that you're going to be seeing quite frequently throughout your Japanese journey. It is used in all sorts of contexts, from the very informal to the academic and highly complex. It has a few different meanings that are mostly unrelated to us, non-natives, so let's take a look at them.

～によって As "depends"

If you've ever wondered how to give some nuance to your speech, によって is a great way to do it. Sentences like "depending on the circumstances" or "that depends on the weather" can be constructed using this structure.

A few example sentences for this could be

明日の天気によって、散歩に行きます。”We'll go for a walk depending on tomorrow's weather.”

どんな家族によって、子供の教育が変わっていきます。”A child's education will change depending on their family”

～によって As "using / by means of"

Another common use of によって, is to indicate the means by which you achieve something. It can be similar to the particle で in some cases, but it might be perceived as a more formal alternative, frequently found in academia and formal writing. Let's look at some examples:

人間は、言語によってコミュニケーションする。"Humans communicate using language."

教科書によって、新しい知識を得ることができる。"You can obtain new knowledge using a textbook."

Do keep in mind this does not replace the verb "to use" and it's not equivalent. If you want to emphasize the usage aspect of that verb, you will need to use the verbs 使う or 使用する, and build a different structure. In these sentences we're using によって because the mentioned nouns (言語 and 教科書 respectively) are a means of achieving something, and that's what's important. So always keep in mind "do I just want to say 'use' as a verb, or do I want to explain how this item helps me accomplish a particular goal?"

～によって As "by (authorship)"

This one is very simple, but still really important. In Japanese, when you want to mention the author of a specific work or text, as well as the person that brought a specific project to completion, you can use によって。Let's look at some examples:

この面白いファンタジーシリーズは有名なイギリス人の作家によって書かれた。"This fun fantasy series was written by a famous English author."

韓国人の漫画家によって描かれた漫画は日本の漫画と違うところがかなりあります。”Manga written by Korean authors is considerably different from Japanese manga."

～によって As "due to / as a consequence of"

Finally, we have another form frequently used in formal speech, particularly in news reports, journalism and similar scenarios. I frequently imagine reporters using this form to explain current or ongoing events. Here are some examples:

東京における今晩のイベントによって、会議が中止されました。"The meeting was canceled due to this evening's event in Tokyo."

25日の地震によって、国中のいくつかの道路が非公開になっております。"Several roads in the country have been closed to the public due to the earthquake on the 25th."

These are the most common uses you'll find for によって, though as always, try not to approach grammar as a 1:1 equivalent for English structures, and instead make sure you pay attention to the different contexts in which you'll see it used, so you can get a better feel of how this structure works.

PD:

Let me know if any of you have a request for future structures or grammar that you think would be fun to discuss in its own thread, and I'll be happy to oblige.

That would be all for today, hope everybody has a very nice day!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our daily JLPT thread! It’s insane seeing the community grow up to 20 users. I want to keep these posts up in hopes of building an active community that focuses on what the Japanese language is, and how it works. It really is a fascinating subject to study!

本日の文法：JLPTN4の「～くらい/ぐらい」

～くらい/ぐらい Is a single word that is most commonly found when talking about approximations or approximate values. Keep in mind that both くらい and ぐらい are the same and 100% interchangeable, so it’s up to personal preference you how say and spell it. This word has a few more uses that may be more idiomatic and make your Japanese sound more natural as well, so let’s look at some examples.

A few example sentences for this could be

明日のテストは30分ぐらいかかります。”Tomorrow’s test will be about 30 minutes long.”

彼女の息子は前回会った時、身長がもう120センチぐらいだったよ！”Last time I saw her son, he was already around 120cm tall!”

Although this form is rather casual, and for more formal speech you would use other forms, it is still extremely common, and you can find it in a lot of places, from media, to casual speech and even advertising. This isn’t even the only casual way to mark approximate values, but I think it might be the best to learn first, as it’s both versatile enough, and quite useful to know.

Now, some uses of ぐらい may be a bit confusing for a student at first. This is because a second common use for the word is as a level indicator. That means, as a word you use to emphasise the degree of things.

Let me show you a few examples

こんな簡単な文章ぐらい、小学生でも読める。”Even a grade schooler could read a text as simple as this”

And for a more complex one, if you want to challenge yourself:

お寿司は世界中の何百万人も食べたことがあるぐらい有名な和食です “Sushi is a Japanese dish so popular that millions of people around the world have tried it”

In both of those sentences くらい is used to indicate the degree of situations. In the first case it indicates just how simple a text is (simple enough for a grade schooler), while in the second case it indicates how famous sushi is (famous enough to have been eaten by millions around the world). I understand this specific use may be a bit more challenging, so feel free to create your own examples to practice and play around with it as you get more comfortable! Remember that writing and speaking are important parts of learning a language as well.

That would be all for today, hope everybody has a very nice day!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our daily JLPT thread! As the tests get nearer and nearer, I'm thinking on focusing on N4-N3 grammar for a few days, since I think those are probably the most popular tests, and the bulk of potential readers will fall under that level most likely. That said, let us begin!

本日の文法：JLPTN3の「～のように・のような」

～のように・のような Is a very common structure that could translate to “just like” or simply “like”, implying resemblance or any commonalities between two things. It's especially common when you want to use someone's attributes or features to link them to someone else.

A few example sentences for this could be

弟は、父のような優しい人ではない。 “My brother is not a gentle person like my dad is”

彼女は、状況をよく理解できる方のように説明しました。 "She explained it like someone who understands the situation very well."

It's not a particularly formal or colloquial form (although it might be more unusual in highly formal speech), but it does change depending on how it's being used.

Notice that the first sentence is linking two nouns 「父」 and 「優しい人」, and thus のような is used. The structure would become NOUNのようなNOUN.

For example: 「師匠のような先生」"A teacher that's more like a mentor" or 「太陽のような光」"A light like the sun".

However, you can also change the structure to のように to make more specific comparisons. We can modify our previous examples to make them evaluate a specific feature or quality about someone or something.

For example: 「師匠のように話する先生」 "A teacher that speaks like a mentor."

「太陽のように明るい光」 "A light as bright as the sun."

Hope everybody has a very nice day!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our daily JLPT thread! The July tests are coming up quickly, so I thought we could have a daily thread where we discuss questions, or talk about what we've been practicing. In this thread I will also be sharing one graded grammatical structure every day, so feel free to use it for your own reference.

本日の文法：JLPTN1の「～極（きわ）まりない」

～きわまりない Is a very interesting structure that could translate to "extremely" or "as can be".

A few example sentences for this could be

図書館で大声を出して騒ぐなんて、迷惑きわまりない。 "Speaking loudly and making a ruckus at a library is as annoying as it gets"

昨日、彼の態度は失礼きわまりない "His attitude yesterday was extremely rude"

This structure could be considered relatively similar in meaning to 「非常に」 though naturally the way it's built is different. In this case you mostly just attach it to a noun. That makes it relatively easy to use! Remember that this is a relatively literary or formal structure, so you probably won't be hearing it too much when speaking casually or colloquially.

Hope everybody has a very nice day studying for your upcoming test!