Why is the title of the にみえる grammar point に見える when literally the first thing that is said is that it is always written in hiragana ?
Other grammar points are similar.
— Dave
Why is the title of the にみえる grammar point に見える when literally the first thing that is said is that it is always written in hiragana ?
Other grammar points are similar.
— Dave
The grammar point says it is primarily written, not always written.
I’m assuming you mean this point: にみえる (JLPT N4) | Bunpro – Japanese Grammar Explained
That doesn’t mean it is never written 見える. Here is a listing of example sentences using みえる
There is also a red box in this point explaining the reasoning of the writings of the grammar point.
In the caution box is says that kanji will rarely be used. So the question remains, is there a good reason to use it in the title of the grammar point?
Or perhaps the caution box, or the explanation text, or both, are overstating the case,
There are two main benefits to showing the Kanji in grammar points, even if they are not commonly written that way:
Gain familiarity with Kanji.
Learn the literal meaning of the grammar point.
For these reasons, I love that the BunPro team includes Kanji in grammar points. Not only does it help learn Kanji, via exposure, but you also gain a deeper understanding of the grammar.
Personally, I couldn’t have it any other way .
The United State Dollar is almost always referred to as “Dollar”. So if someone was learning about currency do you think the source should just call it “Dollar”? No if you were learning about it you would expect to learn it is “United State Dollar”.
Same concept, you’re learning about grammar here. So they’re teaching you the grammar without leaving out information. I understand that it might be annoying or strange to you because to you it’s just extra info to you.
That being said, I personally do think they are over stating how “rare” it is to see it written as 見える over みえ. But I really can’t properly say
Hi @davebp , thanks for the enquiry! We mention this issue in a few grammar points briefly, but it’s really one of the unique things about Japanese as a language itself. One of the ways that writers illustrate the difference between something being used grammatically or literally is through the inclusion or omission of kanji. This is why a lot of grammar textbooks don’t include kanji, as a special meaning is being taught that doesn’t usually take the standard kanji. However, that is not to say that these phrases do not stem from kanji, and do in essence keep their base meanings.
We include the kanji in most situations because it’s often something worth noting or worth keeping in mind when remembering something new. It helps later on when you start reading books as well, as you’ll notice a lot of kanji being left out when the writer is trying to make sure the reader doesn’t misunderstand something.
Thank you all for your responses. We will have to agree to disagree.
— Dave
Why is the みたい grammar point different?
If you don’t care for that piece of information, then simply ignore the Kanji. You have that option by clicking on it at the top of the grammar point, to make it show the Kana instead. Easy fix!!
Thanks for your response.
I don’t have a problem to be fixed. I have a question about bunpro’s pedagogy.
— Dave
I only mentioned it because you kept bringing up the fact that the Kanji shows up in the title of the grammar point, and perhaps you weren’t aware that it could be easily switched to the Kana by clicking on it. However, it seems you already knew this.
At least you have the option to ignore the bits of information that you don’t care for (I know I do, in certain cases). You’re not forced to learn the Kanji of the grammar, if you don’t want to .
みたい is different because みたい does not have a kanji form in Japanese. It is an auxiliary verb/な-Adjective that stems from を見たような, but the modern みたい no longer has any relation to the verb 見る, and is not a conjugation of it. You can find more information about this in the みたい grammar point .