29 used & new from $92.27

See All Buying Options

Trade in your item
Get a $4.07
Gift Card.

Trade in
Learn More

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 3 images

Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage Dictionary: A Concise Explanation of Frequently Confused Words and Phrases Paperback – September 4, 2001

by Masayoshi Hirose (Author), Kakuko Shoji (Author)

4 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-4770028501 ISBN-10: 4770028504

9 New from $125.00 20 Used from $92.27

Amazon Price New from Used from

Paperback

"Please retry"

—

$125.00

$92.27

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

One of the principal reasons for the difficulty foreign students have in mastering Japanese is the language's extensive use of words that seem similar in meaning, but are used very differently in practice. This 768-page dictionary both explains the differences between hundreds of words and provides examples of how they are used in conversational Japanese.
Explanations are given in Japanese with English translations; sample sentences are written in Japanese and Roman characters, with accompanying English translations. To further aid understanding, the book includes 27 short narratives or dialogues that indicate how word usage is affected by context, helping students to distinguish some of the language's subtleties. With its clarification of often confused vocabulary, this book is an essential tool for serious students of Japanese.

o 768-page dictionary includes 302 comparisons of 708 synonymous terms.
o Explains words and phrases that seem similar, but have very different uses.
o Sample sentences in romanized and standard Japanese script with furigana, followed by the English translation.
o Three easy-to-use indexes in romanized alphabetical order, Japanese order, and by category.

Kodansha's Effective Japanese Usage Dictionary: A Concise Explanation of Frequently Confused Words and Phrases

Available from these sellers.

Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed

Effective Japanese Usage Guide: A Kodansha …
Masayoshi Hirose

5.0 out of 5 stars (1)

Paperback
Japanese Sentence Patterns for …
Taeko Kamiya

4.9 out of 5 stars (16)

Paperback

$16.52
Common Japanese Collocations: A …
Kakuko Shoji

4.5 out of 5 stars (15)

Paperback
Kodansha's Basic English-Japanese …
Seiichi Makino

3.8 out of 5 stars (9)

Paperback
Making Sense of Japanese: What the …
› Jay Rubin

4.5 out of 5 stars (56)

Paperback

$11.81
Japanese Core Words and Phrases: Things You …
Kakuko Shoji

4.7 out of 5 stars (15)

Paperback

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

Series: Japanese for Busy People
Paperback: 753 pages
Publisher: Kodansha USA (September 4, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 4770028504
ISBN-13: 978-4770028501
Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,985,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Would you like to update product info, give feedback on images, or tell us about a lower price? .

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

See "Look inside this book" for scans of pages from the dictionary. The two pages shown there deal with the differences between iremono, utsuwa, and yooki, when they mean container or receptacle. The discussion of yooki carries on to a third page, which is not shown.

About the Author

Masayoshi Hirose is a Kodansha International author.

Customer Reviews

(4)

4.0 out of 5 stars

5 star		2
4 star		1
3 star		0
2 star		1
1 star		0

See all 4 customer reviews

Share your thoughts with other customers

Write a customer review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

A Dictionary of the Subtle Nuances of Japanese Words

By Amazon Customer on August 7, 2001

Format: Paperback

When I stumbled across this book in a bookstore in Japan I was pleasantly surprised. Up till that point, everyday I struggled to answer my questions regarding words with similar meanings in Japanese. This book helped to answer many of my questions by grouping those words with related meanings into different sections and by providing detailed explanation about how the various wordsf meanings differ. For example, this book groups the words like gsamui,h gtsumetai,h and gsuzushiih into a single section, and then gives you examples for the correct usage of each word. Also, in my opinion the words and grammar contained in this book are not for beginners, but rather for intermediate to advanced students who are struggling with the subtleties of the language. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that this book is bilingual; all text has equivalent Japanese and English copies, so this book is good for Japanese native speakers as well. Overall, I have no complaints about this book (except that I wish it was published earlier when I started studying Japanese).

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

Great for what it is, but don't mistake it for a normal dictionary

By Leonard Martinez on March 28, 2010

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Given the large number of similar-yet-frustratingly-different words in Japanese, this kind of concise, example filled book is very welcome. A bit muddled on the difference between iroiro and samazama? Or ureshii and tanoshii? The examples and directions are all in Japanese as well as in English, which is useful to test/help your reading ability as well. It also uses kanji/kana, so you can avoid the childish reliance on romanji. Included also are a few small essays/paragraphs in Japanese as well as a few charts with information about topics in Japanese. These are nice although a bit generic if you've already taken the time to read Japanese at an intermediate level.

However, keep in mind that this is a book designed to help you learn the difference between like words - it shouldn't be thought of as an all-purpose dictionary, as it only lists words that are paired with easily confused synonyms. Use it as a supplement alongside a more thorough, inclusive dictionary.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

Another book for my collection.

By Cynthia on January 15, 2012

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

I have been disappointed with some books i've ordered to learn Japanese. This one was very useful and effective. It's not hard to follow. Good for people who already know some Japanese.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

Save your money, but read on for a recommendation

By Jackal on October 25, 2010

Format: Paperback

I find this book a massive overkill. Too much information and too many examples on each usage situation. I prefer Kodansha's Basic English-Japanese Dictionary (Japanese for Busy People) that also gives similar usage information. By being more concise they are able to cover more ground.

Having offered this critique I have to recommend two of the second author's other books, which I have found very useful. I've read Japanese Core Words and Phrases: Things You Can't Find in a Dictionary (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics) and Basic Connections: Making Your Japanese Flow (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics). They are both definitely worth getting.

Comment Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Sending feedback...

Thank you for your feedback. If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.

Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again

See all 4 customer reviews (newest first)