Do you know where 「もしもし」(MOSHI-MOSHI) comes from? Many of you may know how to use もしもし. It is used when you begin to speak to somebody,...

In a rudimentary understanding, you may learn to use 「いくら」 only for 「これはいくらですか?」―How much is this?—asking the price of something....

「ので」 and 「のに」 are postpositional particles 格(かく)助詞(じょし) which work as a conjunction 接続(せつぞく). 「ので」 is resultative 順接(じゅんせつ); 「のに」...

者(もの) is a person; 物(もの) is a thing. Another thing is 事(こと), which is the subject of your consciousness or thought. 事(こと) is an abstract...

When 物(もの) is placed before some adjectives―as a prefix which works as an adverb—which show a condition or a feeling, it means 何(なん)となく...

しらばくれる （しらっぱくれる、しらばっくれる） とぼける 白(しら)を切る(きる) 白白しい(しらじらしい) 知らん顔(しらんかお) 知らん(しらん)振り(ぷり) They all mean to pretend not to know when you’re aware...

Both 事(こと) and 物(もの) are a thing. What’s the difference? How do you use them? In short, 事(こと) is the subject of your consciousness or...

や-る【遣る(やる)】 「娘(むすめ)を大学(だいがく)へやる」「娘(むすめ)を嫁(よめ)にやる」 The basic meaning for this 「やる」 is to make or let someone transfer from a place to...

Since long time ago, a house cat has been valued by humans for companionship and for its ability to hunt rodents. Cats are considered...

Compare English and Japanese about brothers and sisters. Is it surprising to hear that there is not a word for ‘brother’ nor ‘sister’ in...

The late John Denver wrote, “Sunshine on my shoulders make me happy.” Which do you think is the best translation into Japanese? 1....

Kanji 漢字(かんじ) were originally the letters of China 中国(ちゅうごく). The ancient Japanese began to use kanji for writing the Japanese language....

The Japanese language has many words that represent ‘I.’ 私(わたくし) is the most common word for I, but わたくし is very formal and わたし is more...

Ten-seki koque-o shoh-ze-zu. 転石(てんせき)苔(こけ)を生(しょう)ぜず。 Or, Koroga-ru ishi-ni koque tsu-ka-zu. 転がる(ころがる)石(いし)に苔(こけ)つかず。 There’re two...

Inu-mo aru-ke-ba boh-ni a-ta-ru 犬(いぬ)も歩けば(あるけば)棒(ぼう)に当たる(あたる)。 This popular proverb has two conflicting meanings. The meanings depend on...

To be the number one is always difficult in anything, but ‘1’ in the report card would not be desirable. Ichi-ka bachi-ka 一か八か(いちかばちか)...

What this proverb 諺(ことわざ) means to say is to praise silence rather than speech or eloquence. I wonder if Europeans and Americans agree on...

They say a woman’s mind—especially loving mind toward a man—is changeable like a fall sky. A fall or autumn is, in Japan, maybe...

This may be one of the most famous phrases which the Japanese people have ever known in English. The Japanese version see-nen-yo,...

I don’t know why they use ‘fire’ in English when they fire somebody. Instead, in the Japanese language, we use ‘neck.’ When they fire...