When I get a quiz question right in Japanese class, what should I say? And how do I say the opposite — wrong answer? Great timing! 正解 (seikai) means 'correct answer' and it's used in so many situations beyond just tests. Let me show yo...

I know some personality words like 優しい and 厳しい, but I want to describe more complex personalities. What other words can I use? Japanese has a rich vocabulary for personality! This is Part 2 — we'll cover words for ambition, reliabi...

How do I describe someone's personality in Japanese? I know 優しい (kind) but I want to say more! Japanese has a huge personality vocabulary! In Part 1, we'll cover the most essential and common personality adjectives. These are the ones...

I want to say 'This is very delicious' but I'm not sure whether to use とても, ずいぶん, or かなり. They all seem to mean 'very'! They all intensify adjectives, but they have different nuances! とても is neutral, ずいぶん implies surpris...

I want to tell someone 'Thanks to you, I passed my exam!' Which pattern should I use? That's a perfect situation for のおかげ! It's the positive counterpart to のせい — you use it when something good happened because of someone or someth...

I wanted to say 'It's because of the rain that I was late' but I wasn't sure whether to use のせい or のおかげ. Great question! のせい is for negative reasons — blame and bad outcomes. のおかげ is for positive reasons — credit and good o...

My Japanese friend said my joke すべった！I know すべる means 'to slip' — but I didn't slip anywhere! Ha! In Japanese, すべる also means a joke failed to land — like it slipped away without getting any laughs. Let me explain both meaning...

My Japanese friend said ずるい！when I got dessert and she didn't. I looked it up but I'm not totally sure what it means. ずるい is one of those words you'll hear constantly in Japan! It means unfair, sneaky, or that someone is playing d...

My exchange student asked me to explain 住む. I struggled to explain all the different ways to use it! 住む is actually very versatile! Let me walk you through all the key patterns so you can explain it clearly. The verb 住む（すむ） mea...

My teacher said 素直になって about me being stubborn, but I thought 素直 meant honest. Isn't that 正直? This is a super common point of confusion! 素直 and 正直 both relate to honesty, but they mean different things. Let me clarify! Both...