The word 木の実 (kinomi) can mean “nuts,” “fruits,” or “berries.” Can’t this ambiguity be confusing? Let’s return to the sentence we saw initially:
好みは木の実です。
The translation could just as easily be:
My preference is nuts.
My preference is fruits.
My preference is berries.
How can one tell which is meant?
I asked a Japanese man about this. He said it’s a very subtle point that often sparks disagreements. But the narrowest sense of 木の実 is nuts, rather than apples, oranges, berries, and the like.
Here’s how the word figures into several sentences from Jim Breen. Note that I’ve defined some potentially confusing non-kanji words.
私たちは木の実を揺り落とした。
Watashitachi wa kinomi o yuriotoshita.
We shook nuts from the tree.私たち (watashitachi: we)
揺り落とす (yuriotosu: to shake down (e.g., nuts from a
tree)) to shake + to dropリスは忙しく木の実を集めていた。
Risu wa isogashiku kinomi o atsumete ita.
The squirrel was busy gathering nuts.リス, written in kanji as 栗鼠 (risu: squirrel)
chestnut + rat
忙 (isoga(shii): busy)
集 (atsu(meru): to collect)彼女は、アレックスが何か言うたびに木の実を与えるのではなく、彼が特に「木の実」といったときにのみ与えたのである。
Kanojo wa, Arekkusu ga nanika iu tabini kinomi o ataeru no de wa naku, kare ga tokuni “kinomi” to itta tokini nomi ataeta no de aru.
Instead of giving Alex a nut each time he said something, she’d only give it when he specifically said “nut.”
Fun to imagine where this nutty sentence might have come from and who or what Alex might be. A parrot? An impaired child? A baby? Should any of those populations be eating whole nuts?
彼女 (kanojo: she) he + woman
何か (nanika: something)
言 (i(u): to say)
たびに (tabini: each time; whenever (something happens))
与 (ata(eru): to give (e.g., food to a dog or child))
彼 (kare: he)
特に (tokuni: particularly, especially)
ときに (tokini: when)
のみ (nomi: only)
台風で木の実がすっかり落ちた。
Taifū de kinomi ga sukkari ochita.
The typhoon bared the tree of its fruit.I don’t think I’ve ever heard “bared” used in this way.
台風 (taifū: typhoon) typhoon + wind
すっかり (sukkari: all, completely, thoroughly)
落 (o(chiru): to fall down, drop)
