[sarvodaya]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

@覚さんへ。

I have one question and some other things.

"This was the premise upon which their discussion was based."

Can I say this?
Their discussion was based upon this premise.
What is the difference?

I have just been reading about this in Japanese. In the first example makes it clear that "the premise" is the focus and "their discussion" is the topic. Doing so emphasises your surprise that this formed a premise of their discussion. To be clear, a premise is something that is taken for granted, it has a logically distinct position in an argument. It is something that an argument relies upon, but which is not questioned in itself; rather it is assumed to be true. Thus, by using the word order I showed you, you are emphasising that it surprised you to see that the professor was taking this statement for granted.

I’m sorry; I have used a wrong word. It was not “cowards”, but “aggressive” or “forceful”.
Does this make sense?

Ah, I see, that makes more sense. So you meant "we can’t help feeling you are aggressive because we do not have the culture of debate"

I think a good word for you to use would be "overbearing"; do you know this word?

From my previous post.
I forgot to say that men can add ね at the end of their words.
I will tell you how to add ね next time!

I'll look forward to it!

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

@覚さんへ。

I have other questions.


From I was astonished recently:
"I didn’t imagine anyone thought that a diverse culture benefited everyone."

Can I say this?
I didn’t imagine that anyone thought a diverse culture benefited everyone.
What’s the difference?

Yes, you can. There isn't really any difference!

"Japanese culture is quite different from what you might expect."
Can I say this?
Japanese culture might be quite different from what you expect.

Yes, you can. In this case there is a slight difference. The first example suggests that there is a well-defined expectation that some people have, that Japanese culture definitely differs from that expectation and that the reader may or may not be such a person as to hold that expectation. On the other hand, the second example merely suggests that it is possible that Japanese culture is different from what you expect as an individual.

Thus, in using the first of the two sentences, you emphasise that you are aware of either particular disparities between Japanese culture and foreign cultures or particular misconceptions that people commonly have about Japanese culture.

From Why Japan prefers a monocultural society:

You have written “the Japanese”.
Does this mean “all Japanese people”?

Technically, yes, although it is usually understood as "most Japanese people" or "the majority of Japanese people" because everyone knows you can't really generalise to a whole nation.

Can I say “all Japanese people”?

Yes. The only reason I changed it was because it sounds a bit odd to say "people" twice so close together! In English we usually avoid repeating the same word too often unless we have a particular reason to do so.

What are the differences among “the Japanese”, ”the Japanese people”, “Japanese people” and “all Japanese people”?

"the Japanese people" has a connotation of "the Japanese nation". Here "the people" is being used as a collective noun. As a result a sense of unity is implied. Compare the famous statement: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union..." This phrase "we the people" has come to symbolise the idealised democratic process. As a result of this unity, claims about what "the Japanese people" do or don't believe etc are akin to statements about the public consciousness, which, though useful, can be nebulous.

In "Japanese people", on the other hand, people is more like a typical plural of person. You can say persons, but it is quite formal and usually reserved for specific purposes. Thus "Japanese people" is the most common way to express "persons from Japan".

"all Japanese people" emphasises that not a single Japanese person is left out from what you are saying. Thus "All Japanese people do not hate people because of religion or skin color", while a little awkward, is equivalent to "Not a single Japanese person hates people because of religion or skin color".

If that is what you want to say that's fine, but I find it hard to believe! No nation can be so perfect.

Thank you.

どういたしまして。
覚