vocabulary questions

[pacerier]

heys all, i've got 2 questions on vocab.

1. what may i use 奇跡 to describe?

and what's the difference between a じしょ and a じびき

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

heys all, i've got 2 questions on vocab.

1. what may i use 奇跡 to describe?

and what's the difference between a じしょ and a じびき

Now this is the type of thing that belongs in the general questions thread. And I can't answer either question. To be honest, I've never used the word 字引, and I don't recognize the word in your first question.

As to your first, “奇跡”の検索結果（157 件）：英辞郎 on the Web：スペースアルク
There is a list of many sample sentences using the word and that provides translations. Hopefully that will give you some idea of how to use the word.

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by pacerier

heys all, i've got 2 questions on vocab.

1. what may i use 奇跡 to describe?

and what's the difference between a じしょ and a じびき

You are one interesting individual. You ask elementary particle questions one day and above-intermediate questions the next.

Now, the easier question first (for me, at least).

The differences between じしょ and a じびき:

1. Former being in more frequent use than latter. It's often, if not always, older people who actively use じびき.
2. Latter is the only word you can use to say "a walking dictionary". 生き字引.
3. Former is the only word you can use to say "an electronic dictionary". 電子辞書. This may explain why younger people aren't using the word 字引 very often these days.

Next, 奇跡. (If you write that word in kanji and want to know how it's used, you should have been writing the much easier words that you have been writing in kana here the same way. This confuses the guys that answer your questions because it looks to me as though you didn't know where you were in term of your current Japanese proficiency.)

You use 奇跡 to describe an event or phenomenon that no one could have predicted would occur. People being rescued after spending several days under the rubble from an earthquake. A baseball player hitting five homeruns in a game. A man recovering consciousness after several weeks in a coma. All these phenomena can be called 奇跡.

[pacerier]

thanks Sashimister for the detailed information regarding じしょ and じびき

ps i wrote it in kanji because i was afraid きせき may coincidentally mean another word.

anyway are both of these usages correct:

きせきのくすり
きせきてきなくすり


anyway thanks for link kyle its really useful!

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by pacerier

　
anyway are both of these usages correct:

きせきのくすり
きせきてきなくすり

Those are both correct.

[pacerier]

hey thanks for the reply. anyway regarding the word 欠く, can i use it this way:

じかんをかきませんが、おかねはありません

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

hey thanks for the reply. anyway regarding the word 欠く, can i use it this way:

じかんをかきませんが、おかねはありません

1. You know, most people don't precede が with polite form. I'm going to guess you used it because you don't know any better. If so, I suggest you learn the elementary grammar points before moving on to something else.

2. You didn't actually use 欠く anywhere in your example sentence, so how can we answer your question?

[Sashimister]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

1. You know, most people don't precede が with polite form.

Where did you learn that? Everyone does!

2. You didn't actually use 欠く anywhere in your example sentence, so how can we answer your question?

He did use it though incorrectly. He said "じかんをかきません."
__________

Originally Posted by pacerier

anyway regarding the word 欠く, can i use it this way:

じかんをかきませんが、おかねはありません

No, you can't. We use another word 事欠く for that.

「時間には事欠きませんが、お金はありません。」

However, if I may say this, it's probably too early for you to learn the word 欠く/欠ける. It's a much bigger word than you appear to think it is. If I were a beginner in Japanese, I would just say:

「時間はありますが、お金はありません。」

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Sashimister

Where did you learn that? Everyone does!

ON second thought, I never learned that. I just forgot the correct thing. I can't believe it, when a phrase I used over and over in undergrad is 〜先生、質問がありますが...
/facepalm
A lesson in humility, I guess!

[pacerier]

hey cool i will try to stick to the basics, however how am i supposed to know if a word is "basic" or "advanced" when i don't even know the word. like in english i can guess that a word is pretty advanced if its very very long but this does not seem to apply to japanese.