Is money お金 or 金

Here comes the money...

When you start getting a feel for Japanese, questions start to pop up in your head. 

One of those questions can be the difference of お金（おかね） & 金（かね）and such words in general. 

What’s the difference?

お(as well asご) as a prefix of a noun can be used to give an extra dimension or aesthetic aspects to the noun. 

When I say dimension, I mean in terms of politeness. 

お金　and  金

• Money signifies royalty, power, and fruitfulness in Japanese culture. This isn’t necessarily about paper money, but more about gold ( maybe that’s why the word Zipangu exists ). It also symbolises rich heritage and social status. In short, it’s something to be revered and respected. 

That’s why most people grow up saying お金 rather than just 金 since everyone else does the same. Perhaps 金 gets used when respect for money vanishes; people who deal with huge amounts of money on a daily basis; CEO’s or owners of a million-dollar companies. Well, you get the point. 

So, お金 is a word that’s sort of kept its culture through modern times and will most likely remain so. This may be the best bet when referring to money. 

• This is very similar when referring to parents as ご両親 instead of just 両親.  But when one refers to their own parents, just 両親 is used. 

As far as aesthetic aspects goes, we’ll take a look at 店 and お店

店（みせ）as we know refers to ‘ stores ‘ in general. This is when we take it as something very neutral and have indifferent feeling towards it. When we put importance on a certain store ( it could even be several stores) and want to set it apart from the rest, お店 is used. It also adds this touch of fanciness. I’m going to a store, not just any store but that special awesome store I always enjoy being at. 

いつものお店に行ってきます。

See you later, I’ll be going to the usual store(that fancy awesome store full of goodies and treats!!) 

• Also, when you want to talk about a certain possession of someone, お can be used to signify that person’s possession. To give some care to their possession. 

これはあなたのお財布ですよ。　

This is your wallet/purse 

The best way to imagine お・ご　is to think of an angel carrying this fluffy soft blanket and trying to cover a naked baby with it.  

How to use Verb + のようになる

Just when did I become like........ THIS!!?

アニメを見てから日本に興味を持つようになりました。

I developed an interest in Japan after watching Anime (repetitiously).

Verb + ようになる　is causative; there’s always a reason when verb +ようになる is included in a sentence. It doesn’t always have to be the case but is rather common. Imagine stepping into the water for the first time…… that’s what ようになる　sort of feels like. Fresh and New. 


So, let’s look at an example: 

How to use verb(past) + ばかり

Just Married!! .... no, not me 

大学に入学したばかりです。だからまだ経験が浅いです。
I’ve just enrolled in the university. So I still have very little experience. 

verb(past) + ばかり　is used to emphasise the recent occurrence of a verb. This is most suitable when you are required to specifically indicate the recentness of something you just started doing or did. So, it can be something you just started in a repetitious manner (like going to school) or it could just be a one-verb-wonder(like chopping the wood).  It also provides aspects of a newbie or a greenhorn. 

Ending sentences with ね - The ね effect

I look good, don't I? 

Perhaps you may have had many opportunities to converse in Japanese. You may also have noticed that conversational Japanese is quite differenct from grammar book Japanese. This is pretty much the case for most languages, but it's quite easily noticed in Japanese.

One thing you may always notice when speaking in Japanese is the ね at the end of a sentence.  

This may not always be used, but used quite frequently and more often than one thinks( I mean for native Japanese speakers). 

ね is quite powerful and can have a lot more impact than one thinks. 

It's flexible since it can be used in question formatting as well as replying formats; it carries the essence of casual agreement and persuation. It can also be used to ' just follow the rest ' in terms of keeping the atmosphere of the conversation in a stable and controlled state. In other words it's an escape to confrontation which could create problems and unwanted preconceived thoughts. 

There is a lot of culture involved as well. 

Now, it's always more difficult to explain than show, so I'll show you some examples: 

Which one: のおかげで or のせいで

Smiley face .............. non-Smiley face

When you want to say “ because of ———“, which do you use?

のおかげで　　　のせいで　　or maybe　  によって

Let’s go through these expressions of giving accreditation/fault to someone else and see the difference of usage.

• のおかげで

This probably can be best translated as ‘ thanks to ‘ when you want to give credit to someone’s action. It has a positive feeling and is usually associated with positive emotions.

Stephanie:  Carlos とても嬉しそうにしてるけど、何かあったの。
　　　Hey Carlos, you look really happy. Something good happened?
　　　　　
Carlos: 彼のおかげで悩んでる問題がやっと解けた。
          Yeah, I finally solved the bloody question thanks to him.

How to use  ----そう & ----ところ

It's almost Valentine's!!

仕事が始まりそうです。

しごとがはじまりそうです。

My work is about to begin.

電車が来そうです。

でんしゃがきそうです。

The train is about to come.

彼らは結婚しそうです。　　　
する conjugates to し when followed by そう

かれらはけっこんしそうです。　　　

They are on the verge of getting married/They seem likely to get married

ーーそう　has meanings of " about to " " on the threshhold of " " on the verge of "about a certain action. Notice that it's not confirmed yet, it's just in the process of confirming a certain action. Which means that there is a small amount of doubt or gap that exists. [Most likely to] would probably be another close meaning. 

**Keep in mind that this is not a direct translation, but more of a translation that can be understood in English. 

Replying with はい,はーい or はいはい??

Mom,,,, look at me, I'm a bird !! 

In Japanese, はい means yes.

There are several versions of はい and are used in specific situations. Understanding the differences and being able to use those versions effectively can give you an edge with your conversational Japanese. 

• The normal はい

This is what you would learn in a grammar book. But, how and when is it used? And in what context?

This is the polite version of うん which also means yes. はい is used towards strangers, people you are not that close to, and in professional environments. 

Cashier: 牛乳の瓶を袋に入れましょうか？

　　　　ぎゅうにゅうのびんをふくろにいれましょうか？

　　　　　Shall I put the bottles of milk in a plastic bag?

You:　　はい、お願いします。

　　　　はい、おねがいします。

　　　　Yes, please.