To be bewildered by many doors 戸 and get lost 惑う.

From the idea that in the middle of the night, a half-asleep person might get confused and enter the wrong room. [zatsuneta.com]

It bewilders me that tomatoes (とまどう) are fruits, not vegetables.

You're walking through a foggy alley late at night, and a single tomato とまどう rolls toward you, stopping at your feet. You look up and see crates of tomatoes suspended mid-air, glowing faintly. You feel 戸惑う (bewildered), unsure if you’ve stepped into a dream or a trap.

It is bewildering to use your toe to touch the window

When the winds are strong, the DESERT (sa)nds flow (baku)wards.

Our plane was sabotaged (SABAtaged) and we crashed in the desert.

Sandy 砂 wasteland 漠

SABAKU star-buck(s)KU - the first Starbucks locations in the Sahara desert! 🐪

Both の and こと turn verbs into nouns, but they feel different:
————————

こと is more conceptual and abstract. It treats the action as a general idea and sounds more detached. It's often used for information, ideas, or facts.

の feels more direct and personal. It points to the actual action as it happens. It sounds more immediate, and it's commonly used for things you directly see, hear, feel, or control.
————————

→ 私は死ぬことが怖い = "I'm afraid of death"
Here, the action is treated as a general concept.

→ 私は死ぬのが怖い = "I'm afraid of dying"
This feels more immediate and personal, as if you're afraid of dying rather than death as an abstract idea.
————————

The difference becomes clearer with direct perception. When you directly witness something, you usually use の.

→ 私は子どもが泣いているのを見た = "I saw a child crying"
What you saw wasn't the concept of a child crying—you saw the action itself.

The same contrast appears with hearing, especially when comparing direct perception and reported information.

→ 火山が噴火したことを聞いた = What you heard was the news of the volcano erupting.
Here, you received information about the event.

→ 火山が噴火したのを聞いた = You were there when the volcano erupted. You directly heard it.
In this case, you experienced the sound itself.
————————

Finally, when talking about actions you can directly control, の is usually preferred.
→ 酒を飲むのをやめた = "I quit drinking"

Here, the action feels concrete and personally managed rather than abstract.
————————

Quick rule of thumb:

Directly experienced / immediate / personal → の
Abstract / conceptual / informational → こと

Source: part of this video: [www.youtube.com]

Examples for sense 3. and 4. — ここ＋ 期間 (period/interval).
Context and verb tense determine whether it's past or future.

Future: ここ数日、寒い日が続くでしょう = "The weather will remain cold for several days".
Past / up to now: ここ数日、あまり寝ていない = "These past few days, I haven't slept much".

"Come, come here!"

I want to have a hot 'coco' here, in this place

There is a coconut here!

The koko feature prominently in Sonic Frontiers, and the main theme of that game is "I'm here."

The first こ denotes proximity (close to the speaker in this case). The second こindicates that we are discussing a place (rather than a person).

Other examples are そこ (a place further than ここ but still nearby), あそこ (a place way over there), and どこ (where?).

Can also be placed at the end of a clause to show that the following clause is different or unexpected. It essentially makes it a BUT statement. Example: 多い友だちがいるーがー全てが優しくない。(I have many friends BUT none of them are nice.)

Notes from Kaname Naito's YouTube Video "けど Is Not Always But"
(use hlthere's link to view the video)
1. used to express opposition or contrast of two sentences (e.g. 頑張って勉強したけど、試験に落ちた。I studied hard, "but" failed the exam.)
2. used to introduce condition or situation before main point (e.g. さっき田中さんにメロンもらったんだけど、食べる? Tanaka gave me a melon just now, do you want to eat it? - where 食べる/do you want to eat it? is the main point)
3. used to request someone do something without directly stating the request/command, which could sound impolite or too invasive if stated directly (e.g. すみません、さっき注文したビールまだ来てないんですけど。Excuse me, we still haven't gotten the beer we ordered. - here けど implies 早くしてください please bring it quickly, without actually saying it)
4. used to identify yourself over the phone to people who already know you (e.g. もしもし? 要だけど。Hello, it's Kaname.)
5. the function of けど and が are basically the same, but が is more formal and is used more for very formal speech and writing, whereas けど is used more often when speaking, especially casually

In Kansai dialect, ええ is the same as いい in standard Japanese.

見てみ！あそこにええ男おるで！
Look! There's a good looking guy over there.

Used with verb stem, adjectives without -い and -な, and nouns+ではなさそう(only used with this negative form)

そう = lit. "that way". E.g. そういうこと = lit. "that-way, say thing".

Two usage cases:
(1) "Seeming that", i.e. denote how something seems a certain way based on personal observation.
(2) "I heard that", i.e. hearsay based on second-hand information learned by the speaker.

Both そう and ようだ can be used interchangeably to express hearsay and conjecture. However, ようだ involves more subjectivity (and can even be used to create figurative similes), and also expresses more certainty in its comparison (while そう is more speculative).

Grammatical usage for "seeming":
(1) (Verb い-stem) + そう(だ).
(2) な-adjectives/adjectival nouns (replacing "な" or adding before "だ"). E.g. げんきながくせい --> げんきそう（な）がくせい.
(3) い-adjectives (replacing the final "い"). E.g. おいしい= おいしそう.
(4) そう itself can also be used as a な-adjective to modify nouns, e.g. 田中さんはよさそうな人です = "Mr. Tanaka seems like a good person."

Grammatical usage for "hearsay" (as opposed to "seeming"):
(5) End of sentence --> (complete logical clause, i.e. verb dictionary form / い-adjective / noun + だ) + そうだ.

It seems so/SOU.

Is that soU?

literally just 'indeed'. carries the same meaning, just used more: SO indeed (perfect match?) -> SO it {would} appears/seems that; SO it is that {way};

Definitions of 'indeed':
- Emphasis/Confirmation/Agreement something already suggested/stated
- Introduction further & stronger or other related point
- Interjection/Response (used as an expression of surprise, incredulity, irony, etc.)

In casual speech, だ is often dropped, but だ is not dropped in だよ and だね. (Genki II)

Used after Nouns and な-adjectives. Not used after a verb or い-adjective.

If I'm not mistaken, わ is softer than よ

In addition to the regular emphasis usage, It can be used in poetry and songs as "Oh" as in "Oh God" "Farewell, Oh friend". Ex.
時よ, 何を用意しているの? "Oh Time, what do you have in store"
神よ
友よ

When I'm full of energy and have a (lively)活 (spirit)気 I wear my khakis {かっき}.

When you're energetic you're also COCKY (かっき)

When you lose your car key かっき, you have a sudden burst of energy to find them.
After finding them, you definitely have a resuscitated 活 spirit 気

Difference between 活気 and 勢い:

活気 is mainly used for the liveliness feeling of a surrounding environment. This can be seen from the kanji 気 as part of 空気.

勢い is detached from feeling. It is used for power/strength/vigour in its own right.

Person を Event に 誘う→To invite a person to an event

Eg: ジョンさんはマリさんを映画に誘いました。→John invited Mary to the movies.

Event に 遅れる→To be late for an event
Eg: 授業に遅れてはいけません
→You cannot be late for class.

You に (need) to be here AT 12!

Just for information, へ / に are used to MARK location. They are locations where the action is GOING. Whereas で is used where the action is HAPPENING/TAKING PLACE.

こぼれる is used when something spills or leaks out unintentionally when it should have stayed inside.

水がコップからこぼれた。 (The water spilled out of the cup.)
涙がこぼれた。 (Tears slipped out.)
砂糖が袋からこぼれている。 (Sugar is leaking from the bag.)

あふれる is used when something overflows because it is abundant or too much.

駅は人であふれている。 (The station is overflowing with people.)
涙があふれそうだ。 (My tears are about to overflow.)
水があふれた。 (The water overflowed.)

Both words are typically written in kana in modern Japanese.

(A)h it's full(fureru)! Oops, too late. It's OVERFLOWED.

"A full rain"「AFURE(RU) あふれる」barrel *𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀* with water.

Africa (∽あふれ) is *filled* with water

I feel FURY because the plate is overflowing. I'm overflowing with FURY

The 2nd meaning is short for なさい, and is usually mentioned in the flat-tone, in contrast to the 1st meaning/usage which is usually mentioned in a rising-tone.

食べな = Eat up. (from 食べなさい) (such as a command made by a parent)

食べるな = Don’t eat!

"~な" has two seemingly conflicting meanings of "do" and "don't" because ”~な” can be used as a contraction of either (1) "~なさい" (i.e., "do") or (2) "~ない" (i.e., "don't").

To distinguish the two:
(1) ~なさい only attaches to the い-stem of verbs or to the base of an ichidan verb (e.g. これをたべな = "(do) eat this"). So, if you see ~な after a verb's い-stem, it indicates a command to do something (as なさい).
(2) However, ~ない can attach in all other cases, i.e. after the dictionary form of a verb and/or after a complete logical clause (e.g. これをたべるな = "don't eat this"). So, if you see ~な outside a verb's い-stem, it indicates a prohibitive command (as ない).

NAH (な), DON'T do that

To quote Cure Dolly: 'anything contained in the は particle only 'flags' what the sentence is talking about, and is never part of the grammatical structure as a whole.'

[youtu.be]

Can be used like “Xは?: As for X?” Usually used when asking for opinion of someone or when a customer is asked what they would like. Very contextual can be used in many senses like “Where?” “What?” Or even complex sentences.

Other particles like も can be used similarly, but this particle directly uses the information from the conversation to ask about another thing/situation. Similar to “What about” in “Mom is at home.” “What about Dad?”.

Pronounced as "wa" (not "ha") when used as the topic-marking particle.

における = formal version of で (but only for context/sphere, not physical action location)

❌ 図書館における勉強する (wrong!)
✓ 現代社会における問題 (problems in modern society)
✓ 日本における教育 (education in Japan)

Agreement seeker particle.

Basically the same as "isn't it" in English, or "innit" if you're Bri'ish.

This particle goes always at the end of the sentence. It can ask for a confirmation or it can be used when you are being rethorical. Examples:

今日の天気は良いですね。
Today's weather is good, isn't it? (being rethorical).

これはカオちゃんの本ですね？
This is kao chan's book, right? (asking for a confirmation)

This particle can also be used with particle よ, this is kind of similar to being rethorical, but with more emphasis.

眠る
to sleep, not be awake.
Physiological state

vs

寝る
go to bed, be in bed.
Does not necessarily imply you sleep, since you could be listening to the radio, watching TV…

[japanese.stackexchange.com]

When I go to bed, it's ねる. When I actually fall asleep, it's ねむる. I add the む because I snore like a cow.

When I’m ねむい (sleepy), I ねむる (sleep).

Shi (she) gen-erates her own resources out of thin air!

(Shi) gained(gen) so many RESOURCES in the last year.

SHI GEN (she can) get her own resources, I’m not sharing!

She gained (しげん) precious resources (しげん) after her husband death.

しけん(試験) exam; test
しげん(しげん) resources

She can (しけん) take a test to gather resources. She can again (しげん) get more resources.

Basically pronounced "o" in this context

Person を Event に 誘う→To invite a person to an event

Eg: ジョンさんはマリさんを映画に誘いました。→John invited Mary to the movies.

Pronounced as 'O', not as 'Wo'. The sound is actually extremely close to that of お.
But to write を on a Japanese keyboard based on the English layout you will need to type 'wo'.

"O" is for "Object".

Pronounced as O, (apparently), but think of it as a man on a surfboard!
"WOw!! I can surf!!!!"

A long time ago in a land far, far away (Nara period, which wasn't that long ago) (in Japan, which isn't particularly far because plane), this was once pronounced /wo/, similar to わ. Over many (actually just nine) centuries, this slowly merged with /o/ (お) to become the を we know today around the Edo period.

It's still を when used as a particle, though every case that was once /wo/ was replaced with お when Japan decided to standardize kana.

It is more formal and "intentional" than tanomu (頼む), which is the standard way to ask for a casual favor.

When you want something, you want MOTO (motto/more)

"MOTOMERU on a star" (to the tune of When You Wish Upon a Star)

MOTTO motomeru (I want MORE!)

I WISH (Motomeru) I had a Mechanical Horse, a Moto-Mare - it would be pretty cool.

She WISHED and REQUESTED to eat more(moto) (meru)ns, but her mum wouldn't let her.

I want MOre TO come to ME!