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  • I know some size adjectives like 小さい (small), 大きい (big), and 並 (normal). Does anyone have a list of other size adjectives: something that could describe things ranging from micro things like Legos to massive things like sky scrapers? My friend said that I can modify the three adjectives. Can you help me understand how that works?

  • There is something called "personal watermelon" in American supermarket term, which can get up to 2.2kg and can serve two people: size comparison (the top one), close up. I don't want to call it a 西瓜. Would 小さい西瓜 (small watermelon) work? I feel that using that combination may make people think it is so small only a few scoops and you are done. -- Answered in comments: 小さい西瓜 should work.

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I'm not so sure what you're asking. Do you want a list of size vocabulary? Or advice on the different types of adjectives and how to use them? As for the second paragraph: In this case it can probably be assumed that 小さいすいか would be interpreted by Japanese-speaking people the same way as "small watermelon" would be by English-speaking people. Which is to say, the exact size that will be inferred is dependant on context, nuance, and the listener. –  ジョン Jun 3 '12 at 9:25
Am I correct in thinking that "personal watermelon" is an American thing (I had never heard of it before)? If so, it's possible that there's no equivalent phrase in Japanese that would instantly describe it. You'd have to use a phrase or sentence to introduce it, the same as you'd need to introduce it to me as an English guy who's never heard of it. Sorry if none of this has been helpful, but I'm still a little unclear what exactly you're asking. –  ジョン Jun 3 '12 at 9:31
A bit of discussion about personal watermelons in Japanese: mnpls.exblog.jp/3896375 –  Dono Jun 3 '12 at 15:25
@Flaw-san, パソメロンwww!! –  Choko Jun 4 '12 at 5:13
Stack Exchange is primarily designed for well-defined questions. (For example, you are expected to choose a “best answer,” but if the question is not well-defined, there is no way to justify your choice.) Asking for an endless list of things is not a great way to use this website. Can you modify the question to make it more focused? –  Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 5 '12 at 23:24

1 Answer 1

For tomatoes, there is プチトマト as opposed to ordinary トマト. For corns, there is ベビーコーン as opposed to とうもろこし. For cabbages, there is ミニキャベツ as opposed to キャベツ. Since the counterpart for watermelon is not popular in Japan (as well as in most countries), there is no word for personal watermelons that you mention. It you want to create a new word, you might want to try these that are along the same line: ミニ西瓜, プチ西瓜, ベビー西瓜.

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This might seem strange, but is it possible that 「竹の子」 could be included in that list? –  Chris Harris Jul 18 '12 at 5:10
@chris I am not aware of a small version of 竹の子. If you know the Japanese name for it, please edit my answer directly. –  user458 Jul 18 '12 at 5:43
It just occurred to me that there seems to be a distinction between ミニ野菜 and ベビー野菜. The difference being that the first doesn't have the potential to grow any further where as the second is harvested early. So, can these actually be prefixes? Link:sakataseed.co.jp/special/mini –  Chris Harris Jul 18 '12 at 18:18
@chris I did not know that distinction. When I followed the link from your link to the list of their products, I saw that they have watermelon under ミニ, so probably it should be ミニ. –  user458 Jul 19 '12 at 0:02
I think the writer of that site noticed an unofficial correlation that exists. I'm not sure how trustworthy it is, but it seems to make some sense. –  Chris Harris Jul 19 '12 at 0:08

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