office worker; company employee; company man; salaryman (stereotypical Japanese office worker)
indicates sentence topic; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis
stability; steadiness; equilibrium
indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.
to want; to wish for; to request; to demand; to seek; to search for
gradually becoming poor; situation getting gradually worse and worse
at (place, time); in; to (direction, state); toward; for (purpose); because of (reason); for
to fall into (e.g. a hole); to fall into (chaos, depression, dilemma, illness, etc.); to fall into (a trap, etc.); to fall; to surrender
to get; to earn; to understand; to comprehend; to receive something undesirable (e.g. a punishment); to get (ill)
while; during; while; although; all; both
to become; to get; to result in; to turn out; to consist of; to be composed of; to be completed
first; firstly; first of all; Introduction; Preface
exploitation; bleeding dry; squeezing dry; milking (e.g. a cow's teat); extracting (a liquid) through squeezing
to continue; to keep up; to keep on
from (e.g. time, place, numerical quantity); since; from (originator); by; because; since; out of (constituent, part)
to slip out; to sneak away; to break into the lead; to get ahead; to begin to fall out (e.g. hair); to break out (of a loop)
now; the present time; just now; another; more
indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question
the world; society; sphere; circle; world-renowned; world-famous
to live; to exist; to make a living; to subsist; to be in effect; to be in use
indicates word or phrase being defined; used for quoting (thoughts, speech, etc.); with; (not) as much as; (not) so much as; the fact that
to say; to utter; to name; to call; to go (e.g. "the alarm went ping"); to make a noise
indicates sentence subject (occasionally object); indicates possessive (esp. in literary expressions); but; however; regardless of; whether (or not)
everything; all; the whole; entirely; completely; wholly
year; counter for years (e.g. of an era), grades (e.g. school); period of an apprentice's contract (usu. ten years)
wood-block printing; publication
(written) work; book; writings
century; era; of the century (e.g. fight of the century)
at; in; at; when; by; with; and then
under (guidance, supervision, rules, the law, etc.); under (a flag, the sun, etc.); beneath; with (e.g. one blow); on (the promise, condition, assumption, etc. that ...); (somebody's) side
the past; bygone days; one's past (that one would prefer remained secret); past (tense); preterit; previous life
(period of) a year; during an era
qualitative difference; disparity; gap
magnification; enlargement; expansion; amplification
to descend (e.g. a mountain); to go down; to alight (e.g. from bus); to get off; to step down; to retire; to be granted
too; also; both A and B; A as well as B; even; as much as