does anyone know the difference between あまり and あんまり, or are they virtually the same? - Feed Post by ztpan
does anyone know the difference between あまり and あんまり, or are they virtually the same?
posted by ztpan
Comments 5
From what I can see from jisho.org it looks like they are pretty much the same since they both can be turned into 余り, I would say it's like みなさん and みんなさん which both turn into 皆さん.
If I am wrong I'm sure some of the veterans here will elaborate further :)
ah, I see! 説明してくれてありがとう
@ztpan: the two words may be considered almost the same. あんまり is a mostly colloquial adaptation, and it may be used for emphasis. The same goes for みんな.
What freakymrq said is not necessarily incorrect, but I'll expand on it a little. When you write余り or 皆 with kanji, they are traditionally pronounced in their short forms. Some Japanese dictionaries (like 大辞林) now mention both pronunciations, but you should be aware that this is a recent thing, and the original and more acknowledged 訓読み of for instance 皆 is みな, and not みんな. The use of the latter is best reserved for spoken language, and when used in writing it is usually written in hiragana (but even if you write it in kanji, nobody will be able to tell that you meant for it to be read as みんな unless you add furigana).
If you are studying the characters for a test (like the 漢検), you should remember that みな is the correct 訓読み.- great explanation TheHardSix!
- oh that makes sense. thank you so much!!
