• 古いふるい
  • ·old; aged; ancient; antiquated; antique; timeworn
  • ·long; since long ago; time-honored
  • ·of the distant past; long-ago
  • ·stale; threadbare; hackneyed; corny
  • ·old-fashioned; outmoded; out-of-date
  N5
• それ
  • ·that; it
  • ·then; that point (in time); that time
  • ·there
  • ·you
  N5
• 動物どうぶつ
  • ·animal
  N5
• どこ
  • ·where; what place
  • ·how much (long, far); what extent
  N5
• ちがう
  • ·to differ (from); to be different; to be distinct; to be unlike; to vary; to disagree (with)
  • ·to be wrong; to be incorrect; to be mistaken
  • ·to become abnormal; to go wrong
  • ·isn't it?; wasn't it?
  N5
• ある
  • ·to be; to exist; to live
  • ·to have
  • ·to be located
  • ·to be equipped with
  • ·to happen; to come about
  • ·to exist (in a completed state); to be (something unchanged in its current state)
  N5
• しかし
  • ·however; but
  N5
• この
  • ·this
  • ·last (couple of years, etc.); these; past; this
  • ·you (as in "you liar")
  N5
• 問題もんだい
  • ·question (e.g. on a test); problem
  • ·problem (e.g. societal, political); question; issue; subject (e.g. of research); case; matter
  • ·question (i.e. doubt)
  • ·public discussion; controversy
  • ·trouble; problem; inconvenience; difficulty
  N5
• どう
  • ·how; in what way; how about
  N5
• これ
  • ·this; this one
  • ·this person
  • ·now; this point (in time)
  • ·here
  • ·used to stress the subject of a sentence
  • ·I; me
  N5
• 答えるこたえる
  • ·to answer; to reply
  N5
• ここ
  • ·here; this place
  • ·this point; here; now
  • ·these past ... (e.g. three years); these last ...
  • ·the next ... (e.g. few days); these next ...
  N5
• よく
  • ·nicely; properly; well; skillfully; skilfully
  • ·frequently; often
  • ·I'm glad that you ...; thank you for ...
  • ·(you have) quite the nerve to; I don't know how you can ...
  N5
• 言ういうAs it appears here: 言われる
  • ·to say; to utter; to declare
  • ·to name; to call
  • ·to go (e.g. "the alarm went ping"); to make a noise
  N5
• 昔むかし
  • ·the old days; the past; former times; a long time ago
  • ·the past ten years; the past decade
  N4
• 文化ぶんか
  • ·culture; civilization; civilisation
  • ·Bunka era (1804.2.11-1818.4.22)
  N4
• 以外いがい
  • ·excluding; except (for); apart from; other than; besides; in addition to
  • ·outside (a boundary, scope, etc.)
  N4
• 人間にんげん
  • ·human being; human; person; man; mankind; humankind
  • ·character (of a person)
  N3
• 何かなにか
  • ·something; some; any
  • ·somehow; for some reason
  • ·(so) what (are you trying to say)?; what (do you mean)?
  N3
• 言語げんご
  • ·language
  N3
• 思想しそう
  • ·thought; idea; ideology
  N3
• こと
  • ·thing; matter
  • ·incident; occurrence; event; something serious; trouble; crisis
  • ·circumstances; situation; state of affairs
  • ·work; business; affair
  • ·after an inflectable word, creates a noun phrase indicating something the speaker does not feel close to
  • ·nominalizing suffix
  • ·pretending to ...; playing make-believe ...
  • ·alias; also known as; otherwise known as; or
  • ·necessity; need
  • ·you should ...; I advise that you ...; it's important to ...
  N3
• 注ちゅう
  • ·annotation; explanatory note; comment
  N3
• よう
  • ·appearing ...; looking ...
  • ·way to ...; method of ...ing
  • ·form; style; design
  • ·like; similar to
  • ·thing (thought or spoken)
  N3

Example sentences are translated by AI.

• 以外（いがい）N2

  Marks everything except the named item — 'other than ~', 'apart from ~', 'besides ~'.

  これに答えるには、人間はどういう動物であるかを問う以外にない。

  To answer this, we have no choice but to ask what kind of animal the human being is.

• というN3

  Quotative marker plus 'say' that introduces a name, definition, or reported content — 'called', 'known as', 'that (one) says'.

  けれどそれは、早く言えば「人間は動物とどこがちがうか?」という問いかけであった。

  But put simply, the question was really, “How are humans different from animals?”

• 的（てき）N3

  A suffix turning a noun into a na-adjective meaning "relating to / -like / -ical" (一般的, 科学的).

  しかしこの問いかけは、根本的にまちがっていた。

  But this way of posing the question was fundamentally mistaken.

• ということだN3

  Reports hearsay or states a conclusion drawn from what precedes — 'I hear that…' / 'that is to say / it amounts to…'.

  問題は「人間は動物とどうちがうか?」ではなくて、「人間は他の動物とどうちがうか?」ということだったのである。

  The real question was not “How are humans different from animals?” It was “How are humans different from other animals?”

• 〜てくるN4

  Verb te-form plus 来る, marking motion toward the speaker or the gradual onset of a state — 'come to do' / 'start to / become'.

  人間は古い昔から、「人間とは何か」を問うてきた。

  Since ancient times, human beings have asked, “What is a human being?”

• 〜ていたN4

  The past progressive/continuous — an action that was ongoing or a state that held in the past — 'was (do)ing'.

  しかしこの問いかけは、根本的にまちがっていた。

  But this way of posing the question was fundamentally mistaken.

• けれどもN5

  More formal contrastive conjunction linking two clauses — "but / however / although."

  けれどそれは、早く言えば「人間は動物とどこがちがうか?」という問いかけであった。

  But put simply, the question was really, “How are humans different from animals?”

• がありますN53 times in this passage

  States the existence or possession of an inanimate thing, "there is / to have".

  いわく「人間には動物にはない言語がある」、いわく「人間には思想がある」、「人間には文化がある」等々。

  It was said that “humans have language, which animals do not,” that “humans have ideas,” that “humans have culture,” and so on.

• しかしN5

  Contrastive conjunction joining two sentences, 'however / but'.

  しかしこの問いかけは、根本的にまちがっていた。

  But this way of posing the question was fundamentally mistaken.

• じゃない・ではないN5

  Negates a noun or na-adjective with the copula, "is not / am not".

  問題は「人間は動物とどうちがうか?」ではなくて、「人間は他の動物とどうちがうか?」ということだったのである。

  The real question was not “How are humans different from animals?” It was “How are humans different from other animals?”

• のでN5

  Gives a reason or cause with a soft, objective/polite nuance — 'because / since'.

  問題は「人間は動物とどうちがうか?」ではなくて、「人間は他の動物とどうちがうか?」ということだったのである。

  The real question was not “How are humans different from animals?” It was “How are humans different from other animals?”