Learning Japanese and English with Random Phrases

7 Dec 2012 - via Jay Bird

「最近、旅行の夢を見ることが多い」
「さいきん、りょこう の ゆめ を みる こと が おおい」
"Recently, I've been dreaming a lot about traveling."

夢 = "a dream". In English, there is also a verb "to dream". You could even say "I dreamed a dream." But the verb for "dream" in Japanese is 「夢を見る」(literally, that's "to see a dream".
Adding ことto 夢を見るnominalizes it, so it means something like "having dreams".

Xが多い (literally,"X is numerous") is a common expression that just means something like "There's a lot of X".

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7 Dec 2012 - via Jay Bird

「何も無いことを祈ることしかできません」
「なにもない こと を いのる こと しか できません」
"I can only pray for nothing."

(Just tweeted, referring to the earthquake in Japan.)

何もない、"nothing"
adding こと to it nominalizes it, makes it a thing, i.e., something to be prayed for

祈る、to pray
again, adding こと nominalizes it, makes it mean something like "the act of praying"

X + しか + Negative Verb = "Can only do X".

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16 Nov 2012 - via Jay Bird

「目当て」
「め あて」
"aim, purpose, intention"

Used often as 目当てで or 目当てに, and combined with 来る、行く、する。

When used directly after a noun it can indicate that noun is the person's aim or intention.

Some examples from Twitter:

「美味しい食べ物目当てでよく行く」
I go there often with the aim of getting some good food."
-> 「美味しい食べ物目当て」
-> "oishii tabemono me ate"
-> "intention (of getting) good food"

「バス目当てで行くのをあきらめるかな」
"I wonder if I should give up going with the intention of getting a bus."
-> 「バス目当て」
-> "basu me ate"
-> "intention (of getting) a bus"

「おにぎり目当てで来たのに売り切れだった」
"I came with the intention of getting some onigiri but they were sold out."
-> 「おにぎり目当て」
-> "onigiri me ate"
-> "intention (of getting) onigiri"

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14 Nov 2012 - via Jay Bird

I often see Japanese people on Twitter saying 「オハイオ州！」. They're literally saying "State of Ohio!", referring to one of the states in the U.S.

But it's just a cute/funny way of saying 「おはよう！」("Good Morning!")

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03 Nov 2012 - via Jay Bird

「Xにすぎない」
Nothing more than X

「すぎない」 is the negative form of「すぎる」which means "to pass, to exceed, to go beyond". So here「すぎない」= "to not be more than".

「彼は夢想家にすぎない。」
「夢想、むそう」＝ "dream", 「夢想家、むそうか」= "dreamer"
"He is nothing more than a dreamer."
"He is nothing but a dreamer."