orz if you plz
>>525
You can use katakana to emphasize a word. (This is an informal writing style, though.)
Ex. "これはまずい" = "This is bad", "コレはまずい” = "THIS is bad", "これはマズイ" = "This is BAD."
By the say, Japanese language doesn't use pronouns as frequently as English does. So emphasising a pronoun often indicate that the writer/speaker refers to a particular thing but doesn't like to say clearly what it is.
>>526 and 529
thanks a lot for your quick response...! :)
"katakana to emphasize a word"... oh, that's interesting... I was thinking katakana is only used for loan words...?!...
so would you say whenever an original japanese word is written in katakana instead of hiragana or kanji then it is probably to emphasise this word...?... (or would that be too simple? ;)...
thanks...!
Katakana is used for all sorts of stuff... Foreign loan words, emphasis, onomatopoeia, furigana for your name when filling out forms etc etc
italic
>>530
"katakana to emphasize a word" is often used in a colloquial expression. This is not a rule. You may or may not do it.
Katakana is also used to refer to names of species in scientific articles. This is a standard writing rule. For example, if you write an zoological essay, you should write "イヌ" as "canine", "犬" as "dog".