200 CHAPTER 4. PARTICLES- Uncertainty
This particle indicates an element of uncertainty in the speaker, such as for
instance:”It looks like (we) somehow made it in time, doesn’t it?”This particle can also be used instead of after interrogatives to
create the indeterminate instance word instead:”There seems to be something white floating (there).”This has the same meaning as, - Estimated extent
This particle is used to estimate an extent of quantity, duration, frequency
or even reasoning:A:
B:
C:
D:A: ”(I) need to read about 50 pages for now.”
B: ”Let (me) read for about 30 minutes.”
C: ”(I) read about 3 hours a day.”
D: ”(I) understand that much (now explain the parts I don’t under-
stand yet).”The difference between the normal unvoiced version, , and
the voiced version, , is that the second is a more colloquial, relaxed
version of the first. This means that the context in which they’re used is
subtly different. The best way to get a feel for which to use when, is to
hear it used often enough.