〜ふりをする pretend to be

I noticed that in my lesson notes this has shown up three times and still yesterday when I encountered:

彼氏のふりしてくれるの本当にありがたい。
Thank you for pretending to be my boyfriend.

Felt like I’ve forgotten this enough times that I need to write it down here!

Examples

い-adj
知らないふりをする
pretend not to know

Verb plain form
寝ているふりをする
pretend to be sleeping

な-adj
大丈夫なふりをする
pretend to be okay

Noun
友達のふりをする
pretend to b a friend

Pattern

本当は悲しいけど、大丈夫なふりをする。
I’m actually sad, but I pretend I’m okay.

V 意向形 + とする/と思う

Initially I was trying to form sentences like I was about to do something.

買おうとしていた。
Was about to make a purchase.

But then realize していた part is just a conjugation of する.

航空券を買おうと思ってたけど、多分明日にする。
I was thinking about buying a plane ticket but I’ll probably do it tomorrow.

• V 意向形 + とする about to do something (closer to doing it)
• V 意向形 + と思う thinking to do something (still in my head)

手に入れる vs. 手を入れる

Came across this sentence:

理由はシンプルで、運用していた個人サーバに手を入れられない状態が続いたためです。

Source: https://falog.net/blog/others/000_restart/

I remembered learning using に and not を when I learned this expression, so I looked into this a bit more.

• 手に入れる（てにいれる）- put something in my hands -> to get, obtain, acquire
• 手を入れる（てをいれる）- taking my hand and put it into project/work -> to repair, maintain, tweak, make improvements

So in this context, it’s to maintain the server.

The funny part: why am I “suspicious” of a native Japanese’s Japanese 🤔

～したほうがいい vs 〜したらいい (Should)

Yesterday I went to speak at an event, and before the event I wanted to ask what should I prep or bring in advance.

tl;dr

• Ask with: したらいい？ (What should I do?) – I should ask with this usage!
• Warn with: ほうがいい。 (You’d better do this.)

〜したほうがいい

• Usage: Strong advice/warning
• Vibe: You really should do this (or else…).

病院に行ったほうがいいよ。
You should go to the hospital. (or else it won’t get better)

パソコンを持っていったほうがいい。
You should bring your computer. (or else it would be a bother)

〜したらいい

• Usage: Asking for instructions, asking for advice, or making a light, non-pressuring suggestion.
• Vibe: What’s the best way to…?/It would be fine if you did…

何を準備したらいい？
What should I prepare?

どう言ったらいいかな？
How should I say it.

について usage

Today I made the mistake of using を with について:
最近、AIについてをたくさん投稿している。

を is not needed as について already acts as the bridge to the verb, so it should be:
最近、AIについてたくさん投稿している。

So here’s a quick refresh of how to use について:

Noun + についての + Noun

[Noun] about/regarding [noun]

AIについての投稿。
A post about AI.

Noun + について + Verb

Do [verb] about [noun]

AIについて投稿する。
Post about AI.

日本語について勉強した。
Learned about Japanese.

I’m also still working on this and on my end I think the key for me is “practice.” With AI around I usually ask it to give me 10 questions on the sentence I got wrong. For example, I’m really bad with the particle に. When I get it wrong, the sentence sometimes mean something completely different. For example:

留学している妹に、母が手紙を送りました。

弟に宿題をさせました。

I kinda get confused who was the person that did the action to whom. And if that’s messed up, it changes the meaning of the sentence a lot.

I think it would help if you share some sentences that you had trouble identifying. Maybe I’ll struggle with it too 😅

れば vs なら

I feel like I’ll probably make many posts on how to say “if”, but today in class we talked about these two specifically.

A れば B

Point of view: On the result

A is the key to B

郵便局に行けば、切手を買えますよ。

Vibe: I want to buy a stamp (result). So someone says if you go to the post office you can buy a stamp.

なら

Point of view: On the current info

A is just the background knowledge of B

郵便局に行くなら、切手を買ってきて。

Vibe: I am not in urgent need of a stamp, so if you go to the post office (background knowledge), you can buy it (but if you don’t it’s totally fine)

試験 related

• 試験を受ける – take the exam
• 試験に受かる – pass the exam
• 試験に落ちる – fail the exam

いつも忘れちゃうから、書きました🫣

tokidokitokyo:

どんくさい

slow; clumsy; stupid; irritating

(note: from Kyoto dialect; TIL: くさい is not related to bad smell, but rather in Kyoto dialect it means っぽい or みたい and is thus used to soften the blow of the どん which means “slow” or “inept”)

彼はどんくさいけど、優しいところが取柄やねえ。
かれ は どんくさい けど、やさしい ところ が とりえ やねえ。
He’s clumsy, but his kindness is his best quality.

プーさんはちょっとどんくさいね。

あるある – Typical thing

I told my teacher that I’m going to 北海道 so we searched the keyword 北海道あるある, and I was like 「あるある？」

It has the vibe of:

• Typical for ______
• That is SO me! I totally get it!

It’s like the short form of saying:

そういうことはよくある。
That kind of thing happens all the time.

例文

A: 最近リモートワークしてるんだけど、結局3時間くらいずっとTikTok見ちゃってる…
I started working from home (remote work), but I just end up scrolling TikTok for three hours…
B: それ、あるあるだよね〜！
That is SO me! I totally get it!

真冬でも、家では半袖短パンでアイスを食べるという"北海道あるある"
A classic Hokkaido thing is eating ice cream in a T-shirt and shorts at home, even in the middle of winter.

真冬 – まふゆ

半袖 – はんそで

Reference

真冬でも、家では半袖短パンでアイスを食べるという"北海道あるある"｜AKIYO SUZUKI（鈴木明世）