Ya english does have a bunch of words like that too.
I was kind of hoping some elder language learned just had some hidden trick that might help me. Oh well >:)
I’m sure hearing the tone of the person would make this one obvious.
I’d say if 凄い is being used on its own typically as a reaction like in example 2 from jisho すごいぞ then it’s positive at least in modern speech. Otherwise it’s a question of what word comes after it, in this case 助かる is positive and so 凄い is aswell whereas すごく怖かった would be in the opposite direction. Finally translating that sentence as saying “Terribly helpful” would be fine in English it’s just a little old fashioned
Hi guys back with another question
先生が「危ない」と書いた。[書く]
The teacher wrote, ‘It is dangerous.’
This is another example sentence.
Why or maybe how does ”危ない” mean dangerous and not “not dangerous”
I thought it was a pretty hard and fast rule that ない means “not or isnt”
What makes this one different or am I just wrong about ない
You’re correct that ない usually means negative in modern Japanese, but 危ない means dangerous. It’s negative form is 危なくない
The history is interesting. The 「あぶ」in 「あぶない」is from contracting 「危うし」to 「あやう・あやぶ」and then to 「あぶ」。The 「ない」was used at the end of the word colloquially to emphasize the meaning of the word. It looks like it became the common usage over time.
Source: 危ない／あぶない - 語源由来辞典
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Okay I’m here with another question because I get confused easily :)))
森の中をあるき||ながら||、鳥の鳴き声を聞いた。[歩く]
While I was walking through the forest, I listened to the birds singing.
Grammar point is ながら | Japanese Grammar SRS
Pretty simple sentence but for some reason I keep trying to use ている instead of ながら. And I think it’s because I haven’t quite understood them enough to see how their different. I think after looking at them and reading I got it but I was hoping someone could tell me if I’m getting it or if that isn’t quite it. If I used ている in that sentence making it
森の中を||あるている||、鳥の鳴き声を聞いた。
It would be wrong because I’d be saying
I ||Is|| walking through the forest, I listened to the birds singing.
Which makes the first part wrong and kinda disconnects the second half of the sentence.
Is that why ている is wrong or am I still not getting it?
Please help 
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I think you understand. If you use ている then it’s really two sentences with nothing linking the two.
When you use ながら (あるきながら) then it makes you think that the person is doing something else while walking. The second part of the sentence answers that: he listened to birds while walking.
To put it another way, you couldn’t use ながら by itself, but you can use ている by itself.
Just had another thought – maybe this is confusing because they both get translated with ~ing. “I am walking” (I am in the state of “walk”) and “while walking” (during the process of “walk”) are different concepts in Japanese.
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Okay thanks! And now that you pointed it out I think it was the “ing” that was tripping me up. Thanks! ありがと～～～
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So got another question
For this grammar point じゃないか | Japanese Grammar SRS
じゃないか || isn’t it?
So to be polite you can say it as : じゃないですか
Which is fine, but could you ever say it as : じゃないますか or じゃないませんか
Is that ever viable or is it a no?
In that case you’d use the polite conjugations じゃありませんか or ではありませんか.
じゃない is actually a conjugation of ある and じゃないです (while imo the most commonly used) is kind of a roundabout way of conjugating ありません.
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Ty!
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Okay I have another question~ >:)
This time it is about てくれる
In the blue fun fact section it says: Fun-fact - てくれる is one of the most casual ways to ask for a favor, w…
But then some of the questions ask you to answer it in the polite fashion.
Which looks like is normally ました or ます.
But I just don’t really get why you’d ever use the polite ending if it’s casual.
Would that make it kind of like a mocking thing to do? Or is it more along the lines of, nah sometimes you just make it polite and it’s not a big deal.
Do people do this or is it just a grammar exercise and nothing more?
てくれる？— casual
てくれますか？ — polite
てくれませんか？ — polite
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What exactly does the “Streak Average Over Time” section in the Statistics Page mean?
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桜を見 --ながら-- パーティーをしようと思う。[見る]
I think that I will have a party while viewing cherry blossoms.
[during]
This is a question from the ながら grammar point.
My question is how would it change the sentence if I used ている or ているところ instead of ながら.
Because I guess I don’t know what the difference between the points are. In my head they all seem to work like “ing” does in english. Would appreciate it if anyone knew
Don’t translate “~ing” to Japanese.
Translate “while V~ing” or “am V~ing” to Japanese. (ながら or ている)
General small question/new people thread - #53 by FredKore
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I don’t know what you’re trying to tell me.
I’m asking how the sentence would change or why it wouldn’t work if I used ている or ているところ
Edit: Oh I see I’ve asked this question before and you were showing me where you already answered it. Thanks! Sorry I’ve been working out in the sun a lot and I’m a bit frazzled when I get home
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Hi! Could someone from the Bunpro team please activate my subscription? I really don’t know how lengthy a waiting time to expect, thus I’m asking. Especially since it’s Saturday and I don’t know whether subscriptions are activated on the weekends, at all? I figured that others had this problem before me, but I don’t think that a whole new thread on its own is necessary to address this, so I’m posting here instead. Thank you in advance!
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Hi! “First-time caller, long time listener” and I still haven’t figured out exactly what 硬 in some grammar points is supposed to indicate.
Is this about the difficulty? Set phrases? I never paid much attention to it but I’m curious now.
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@HaroldoNVU I found it!
" The grammar point’s meaning and structure are listed under the Meaning tab. Some grammar points have further breakdowns, specific rules, or nuances that will appear in orange under the meaning and structure. Grammar points that have exceptions to rules, irregular conjugations, etc. will be marked with a 
symbol. Grammar points marked with “硬” indicate that that grammar point is formal. "
It was kinda hidden on the forums, specifically the FAQ. I didn’t have any idea what it was either
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Thank you. I can see the pattern now 
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