When saying "miss" dictionary confusion?

[Pandora]

I have the Webster's Japanese Dictionary and it has this irritating feature where it provides the word you're looking for and sometimes has brackets with a word that can be substituted for the word before it, YET it does not explain what context they should be used in or what they will mean if the other word is substituted....That aside I am talking to my friend who is also learning Japanese and I am trying to tell her that I miss someone right now...My dictionary says that miss (feel the want of) is the equivalent of: "...ga nai [inai] no o sabishiku omou..." Meaning it can be said "...ga nai no o sabishiku omou...." or "ga inai no o sabishiku omou...", so my question is what is the difference? I don't know which to use! :?

 

[undrentide]

I have the Webster's Japanese Dictionary and it has this irritating feature where it provides the word you're looking for and sometimes has brackets with a word that can be substituted for the word before it, YET it does not explain what context they should be used in or what they will mean if the other word is substituted....That aside I am talking to my friend who is also learning Japanese and I am trying to tell her that I miss someone right now...My dictionary says that miss (feel the want of) is the equivalent of: "...ga nai [inai] no o sabishiku omou..." Meaning it can be said "...ga nai no o sabishiku omou...." or "ga inai no o sabishiku omou...", so my question is what is the difference? I don't know which to use! :?

iru/inai is used for living, animated things (people, animals, birds, insects,etc.)
aru/nai is used for things.

If you miss your friend, you can say "xxx (friend's name) ga inakute sabishii".
If you miss your favourite supermarket when you're away from your home,
"xxx (supermarket's name) ga nakute sabishii".

 

[Half-n-Half]

If you miss your favourite supermarket when you're away from your home,
"xxx (supermarket's name) ga nakute sabishii".

Wow, I had no idea さびしい could be used in that way. I guess that's because the literal translation sounds odd in English. "I'm lonely without Walmart." I'm guessing it must just be a set phrase then.

 

[Glenn]

I found it interesting too, but check out the first definition in the dictionary:

さびし・い 3 【寂しい/▼淋しい】
（形）[文]シク さび・し
〔「さぶし」の転。中古以降の語〕
(1)あるはずのもの、あってほしいものが欠けていて、満たされない気持ちだ。物足りない。さみしい。
「彼の顔が見えないのは―・い」「タバコをやめると口が―・い」「ふところが―・い」

Particularly have a look at the second and third example sentences. I suppose this goes to a few points:

1) Just because you have a gloss for a word in English doesn't mean you have the whole meaning of the word.
2) Just because you feel like you've come to know a word fairly well doesn't mean you actually know it.

I had a similar experience with 断る. Check that one out (it doesn't just mean "refuse," "decline," etc.):

ことわ・る 3 【断る（断わる）】
（動ラ五［四］）
〔「こと（事・言）割る」の意〕
(2)前もって事情を伝えて、了解を求める。承認・承諾を求める。
「事前に―・らずに会議を欠席する」「―・っておくが、これは私個人の意見である」

 

[Half-n-Half]

I found it interesting too, but check out the first definition in the dictionary:
さびし・い 3 【寂しい/▼淋しい】
（形）[文]シク さび・し
〔「さぶし」の転。中古以降の語〕
(1)あるはずのもの、あってほしいものが欠けていて、あ 桙ｽされない気持ちだ。物足りない。さみしい。
「彼の顔が見えないのは―・い」「タバコをやめると口 が―・い」「ふところが―・い」
Particularly have a look at the second and third example sentences. I suppose this goes to a few points:
1) Just because you have a gloss for a word in English doesn't mean you have the whole meaning of the word.
2) Just because you feel like you've come to know a word fairly well doesn't mean you actually know it.
I had a similar experience with 断る. Check that one out (it doesn't just mean "refuse," "decline," etc.):
ことわ・る 3 【断る（断わる）】
（動ラ五［四］）
〔「こと（事・言）割る」の意〕
(2)前もって事情を伝えて、了解を求める。承認・承諾あ ≠ﾟる。
「事前に―・らずに会議を欠席する」「―・っておくが 、これは私個人の意見である」

Hah, truly indeed. Thanks for that Glenn! I had no idea 断る could be used like that. That would certainly be confusing in certain situations if I didn't know that definition. I particularly like the second example 「タバコをやめると口が―・い」

 

[Pandora]

Thank you for specifying which is which! <3 Why can't my dictionary have examples for instances like that?! :bored:
どうもありがとうございます!

 

[Glenn]

Example sentences like what? If you're referring to mine, you have access to them via Weblio or goo or Yahoo!辞書. If you're referring to undrentide's, well... because she doesn't write for dictionaries?

 

[Toritoribe]

Example sentences like what? If you're referring to mine, you have access to them via Weblio or goo or Yahoo!ﾅｽﾂｫﾂ鞘?麓/URL]. If you're referring to undrentide's, well... because she doesn't write for dictionaries?

Probably Pandora-san replied to undrentide-san's answer, Webster's things.;-)

 

[Glenn]

Yeah, I figured that too, after I had posted, because of the whole E->J thing. At any rate, she now has some links to monolingual dictionaries.

 

[Pandora]

Yes, I meant Undrentide's. I'll be honest I can partially read yours. I can only read hiragana, katakana, and the kanji characters for watashi (I), hidari (left), and migi (right). :sorry: I am still waiting on the kanji dictionary that I ordered to arrive in the mail. *stalks mail carrier in her spare time*

Thank you for the links, though! I appreciate it!

 

[Glenn]

All in due time.

 

[Pandora]

Indeed, the dictionary arrived this morning!

 

[Glenn]

Heh, I meant that you'd be able to use the monolingual dictionaries/read all those kanji/etc. I'm glad you got the dictionary, though.

 

[Pandora]

I figured that is what you meant. I said it from the perspective that the kanji dictionary would be my first step to getting there (since I have no instructor).