Both 拭く（ふく） and 拭う（ぬぐう） means to wipe something, however there is a nuance. Cases both of them work 汗を拭く 汗を拭う to wipe sweat 涙を拭く 涙を拭う to wipe tears 汚れを拭く 汚れを拭う to wipe filth In case of both 拭く（ふく） and 拭う（ぬぐう）work, 拭く（ふく） sounds better, like you are a well educated person. On the other hand, 拭う（ぬぐう） sounds …
Both おとずれる and たずねる mean to visit, however there is a nuance. Both of them sound formal, so in a casual conversation, おとずれる or たずねる seem unnatural. Instead, we tend to use the verb “to go”. Therefore if you would like to sound natural, I recommend you to use ‘行く (いく・to go)’. 訪ねる（たずねる） 1. Visit …
Both やめる and とめる means to stop something, however there is a nuance. 止める（やめる） やめる means “to stop a behavior or action”. This can be translated to “to quit” as well. 止める（とめる） とめる means “to stop a movement”. Quiz 1. If you want to stop smoking, how do you say it in Japanese? 2. Let’s …
In English, both あける and ひらく mean “to open”. In some cases, we can use both of them for the same object. However it is not every time. There is a slight nuance between them. 開ける（あける） あける means “to open”, but at the same time, it implies something can go through because it is open. …
無くす（なくす） This なくす is used when we lose something tangible. 財布を無くす lose a wallet 鍵をなくす lose a key ペンを無くす lose a pen 亡くす（なくす） This なくす is used when we lose someone. *This is a transitive verb. Always someone who is deceased is the object in the sentence and I is the subject. 去年、母を亡くした。 I lost …
