Abstract nouns

These are the nouns that carry an argument in written Japanese — in reports, essays and the news — and many have no everyday equivalent in speech. Several work as frames around a phrase and are best learned inside them: 〜の観点(かんてん)から, from the standpoint of; 〜を前提(ぜんてい)に, on the assumption of; 〜傾向(けいこう)がある, to tend to. Where English reaches for one word, such as “situation” or “view”, Japanese often makes a finer cut: 状況(じょうきょう), 事情(じじょう) and 実態(じったい); 観点(かんてん), 視点(してん) and 視野(しや).