Small Thoughts on だけ and 来る

In the previous article, Why Literal Translation from Chinese to Japanese Often Does Not Work, I mentioned だけ. Today I will start with that word, then share how I understand 来る. These are only small personal thoughts, and I am not sure whether they are fully correct.

だけ

When I first learned this word, the teacher said だけ and しか have similar meanings. だけ is usually used in speech, while しか is often used with ない and tends to appear in writing.

Over time, I found that it is not that simple.

For example:

A friend asks me how long winter vacation is in Japan.
I say, “Only two weeks.”

When I say this, I may simply be making an objective comparison with winter vacation in China. Or I may be adding my own feeling, thinking that it is too short and feeling a little unhappy.

In Japanese:

冬休みは2週間だけです。

This feels like an objective statement comparing the length.

冬休みは2週間しかありません。

This carries a bit more emotion.

Sometimes it helps to feel the sound of the word. People with good language sense may be more sensitive to the connection between sound and emotion. Extending from this, consider two more words:

• だんだん
  When you read it aloud, you can feel “gradually” or “little by little,” with a slow swaying rhythm.
• どんどん
  When you say it, it has a “don-don” feeling, which makes it easy to connect with the meaning of something increasing or progressing rapidly.

来る

Have you ever wondered why Japanese treats 来る as a special Group 3 verb?

Based on my current understanding of Japanese, I think the following Chinese expressions help explain why 来る feels special:

• come over
• come back
• come for a moment
• take it slowly / let it come gradually

When I first learned Japanese, I had a feeling that people who understand Classical Chinese or older Chinese expressions may find Japanese easier.

For example, 走 in modern Chinese means “walk,” while Japanese 歩く means walk and 走る means run. But in the Chinese phrase 三十六计走为上计, the word 走 feels strange if understood as “walk away” in modern Chinese. If understood as “run,” it makes more sense. When the power difference is huge and you cannot win, of course you run. If danger is right in front of you, you do not stroll away waiting to get shot.

I feel even more certain about this now. Here is an example.

Suppose you are at home and tell your wife, “I am going downstairs to the convenience store to buy cigarettes. I will be right back.”

How should that be said in Japanese?

The key is to capture the Chinese feeling of “go and come back.” Then it becomes much easier:

「ちょっとコンビニへたばこを買いに行って来ます。」

Now remove the purpose:

ちょっと…行って来ます。

This corresponds closely to “go and come back.” ちょっと can be understood like “just” or “for a moment,” though even without it, Japanese speakers can still understand the “I will be back soon” feeling.

So whenever you want to say you are going to do something and will come back soon, you can use this pattern.