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Forum Rocket Japanese Japanese Vocab あい(相)vs. いっしょ(一緒) 「together」

あい(相)vs. いっしょ(一緒) 「together」

teacup

teacup

How do you know when to use あい(相)vs. いっしょ(一緒)?

 
Crystal-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

Crystal-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

Hi there!

「相」(あい)is usually not used on its own, and is found in kanji compounds, like「相談」(そうだん)"consultation".
E.g. 「お姉さんに相談しました。」(おねえさん に そうだん しました。)"I consulted my sister."

On the other hand,「一緒」(いっしょ)is already a compound that can be used on its own in sentences.
E.g. 「一緒に食べませんか?」(いっしょ に たべません か?)"Why don’t we eat together?"

Hope that helps!

Crystal
teacup

teacup

Thank you Crystal.

That provides some clarification, though now I have a new question: why is the pronunciation of 相 「あい」 instead of 「そう」 when it is paired with 乗る? (this construction is in Module 2.4)

Also, while looking around I found the verb 「乗り合わせる」(のりあわせる) which I believe means to specifically "share a vehicle"… but I don't want to complicate things further. (´∀`;)
Crystal-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

Crystal-Rocket-Japanese-Tutor

Hi there!

Without trying to make things too complicated, 「相」(あい)is the「訓読み」(くんよみ)pronunciation of the word, while the「そう」in 「相談」(そうだん)is one of the「音読み」(おんよみ)pronunciations of the word.

「音読み」(おんよみ)is the pronunciation of Chinese words in Japanese, as, originally, kanji had come from China to Japan. This is commonly found in nouns.
「訓読み」(くんよみ)is the Japanese pronunciation of words, and is commonly used in verbs and adjectives.

Apart from that, there is no easy way to tell what the pronunciation of a word will be except for knowing the word itself. Although, it might become easier to tell as you become more familiar with the different types of words and pronunciations there are : )

As for your second question, I am not sure quite what you are asking about「乗り合わせる」?

I hope that helps!

Crystal
teacup

teacup

The explanations are an immense help, thank you Crystal. (•‿•)

I wrote about 「乗り合わせる」(のりあわせる) because it would seem a verb tailor made for module 2.4, but after further thought あい のり します (i.e. noun+するverb) is easier to remember.

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