without
朝ごはんを食べずにオフィスに行くと、疲れますよ。
You’ll get tired if you go to the office without eating breakfast.
若い頃は何も考えずに、思うことを全部書いた。
When I was young I wrote down everything I was thinking about without thinking.
So for verbs it’s actually ない form of the verb but remove the ない + ずに. It’s that my verbs used here are all Group II words so it wasn’t obvious.
Notes from 2025-02-18
as X then Y
年代が上がるにつれ、いつも会うのは難しいです。
As the years go by, meeting often becomes difficult.
Noun + につれ/につれて
Verb (dictionary form) + につれ/につれて
につれ is the shortened form
I forgot which podcast episode this was from but it was from
2025年日本語の勉強ゴール
Looking back at 2024, I’m around N3 for reading and listening. And because I know Chinese, I can guess the meaning of a lot of 漢字 (although I don’t know how to pronounce them).
But I’m still very weak with outputting (writing and speaking), maybe around N5-N4 level.
As I rarely study outside of my lessons (1 hour lesson per week), I’m not going to go with a plan that changes what I’m currently doing drastically. With aggressive plans, it’ll probably fail within a month.
So my 新年の抱負 (ほうふ) is:
Write one diary per week and no more than 3 entries if I’m really into it to not burn myself out.
週に一回日記を投稿するようにします。やる気があるときは最大 (さいだい) 3回までにして、燃え尽きない (もえつきない) ように気をつけます。
Half year check in!
Although I stopped posting my 日記 to tumblr, I’ve been doing once per week up until now (since I have Japanese class each week).
One thing I’d like to note is that I started using Migaku in May. I’ve studied more vocab than ever since I started using it and the streak is going strong!
It is the best tool for immersion IMO because all you need to do is just install the browser extension and you’re good to go.
Kanji Level Check | MLC Japanese Language School in Tokyo
I’m around 1000-1100!
Check to see how you’re doing ❤️
Actually I can “understand” more than that due to the Chinese helping me, but I only ticked the boxes where I really know how to read/pronounce the word.
They both mean work, but 勤める is like a specific case of 働く.
More general of work, paid or unpaid.
毎日働くのは大変だ。
It’s tough to work every day.
彼はよく働く人だ。
He is a hardworking person.
Almost always used with a specific company, organization, government office, etc. Often followed by the particle に to indicate the place of employment.
私は銀行に勤めています。
I am employed at a bank.
この会社に10年勤めています。
I have been working for this company for 10 years.
So if you 勤める somewhere, you are also 働く there.
Found that this nuance is quite interesting and would like to make a note of it.
話し合いだけでこの問題を解決できる。
This problem can be solved just by discussion.
This implies the problem can be solved other ways, but we can simply do it with discussion alone.
話し合いでだけこの問題を解決できる。
It is only by means of discussion that this problem can be solved.
This implies that solving the problem in other ways is meaningless.
だけで is used more commonly as でだけ has a strong exclusivity which people may use when they want to put the emphasis on ONLY BY DOING….
When I first learned about になる it was about “to become” like
医者になります。
Become a doctor.
But today I saw this sentence:
中古品として購入したものになります。
It was purchased as a second-hand item.
So I tried searching Noun + なります without much luck until I found:
So it’s just a polite way for noun + です. It is often used by store clerks.
Instead of saying: コーヒーです。
They’ll say: コーヒーになります。
Here’s your coffee.
I think it’s time to write down this phrase and I always ask my Japanese teacher in English and I should stop.
Sentence structure:
For example for asking: What’s the difference between 勤める and 働く?
As always, the nuance in Japanese needs me to document this down.
A: 今日、パスタ食べに行かない？
B: うーん、パスタか… 。昨日も食べたんだよね。
A: そっかー。
[A immediately understands and acknowledges B’s reason for not wanting pasta (ate it yesterday).]
B: じゃあ、和食は？OOOの定食、美味しいらしいよ。
A: 和食か… 。ちょっと高いんだよね、あそこ…
B: あ、そうだった？ランチは手頃な値段って聞いたけど。
A: たしかに、ランチなら大丈夫かも。夜は高いけど。
[A initially hesitates about Japanese food due to price. B provides new info (lunch is cheaper). A uses “たしかに” to agree with B’s point about “lunch price” specifically, shifting from initial price concern to accepting lunch as an option.]
B: よかった。じゃあ、和食にする？
A: まあね、和食もいいね。たまには。
[A agrees to Japanese food, but “まあね” and “たまには (tama ni wa – once in a while)” show subtle agreement. It’s acceptable, but not a passionate “YES! Japanese food!”.]
B: うん、そうしよう。
Its original form is:
では、また会いましょうね
well then… see you again
So it becomes:
じゃね or じゃあね