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土台 (どだい, dodai) Japanese meaning: foundation | Kotomora
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て
い
ない
と
、
地じ
震しん
で
倒たお
れ
て
しまう
。
If the foundation of the house is not solid, it will collapse in an earthquake.
Trust is the basis of a good relationship.
Usage patterns 〈 物もの 〉 の 土ど 台だい を 築きず く to build the foundation of something
They built the foundation of the new company.
土ど 台だい 無む 理り だ to be impossible from the very start
A plan like that is impossible from the outset.
〈 事こと 〉 の 土ど 台だい となる to become the basis of something
That experience became the foundation of his success.
土ど 台だい 〈 動どう 詞し 〉 ない to fundamentally be unable to do (something), from the start
There's no way I can finish that much work to begin with.
土ど 台だい が 揺ゆ らぐ for the foundation (of something) to be shaken
The company's foundation was shaken when the fraud came to light.
Kanji 台 pedestal, a stand, counter for machines and vehicles Related words· 10 基礎 is a more formal, technical word for 'foundation/basis' often used in academic or engineering contexts, while 土台 is the everyday, concrete term for the same idea.
元々 is a more common and neutral adverb for 'originally' or 'from the start', while 土台 is stronger and often implies a fundamental reason why something is impossible or unsuitable.
礎 is a literary, poetic word for 'foundation' used in set phrases like 礎を築く, whereas 土台 is the plain, everyday word for the same concept.
根底 stresses the deep, underlying root of an idea or problem, while 土台 more concretely evokes a physical or structural base that something is built on.
Show 6 more 土台 is a foundation or base for a building or abstract system, while 台座 refers specifically to a pedestal that supports an object like a statue or vase.
土台 specifically means the base or sill of a building (or a metaphorical foundation), while 地盤 is broader, covering geological ground and political footholds too.
土台 refers concretely to the base structure supporting a building, whereas 礎石 carries a stronger symbolic sense of being the essential origin of something.
Written forms 土ど 台だい Usage 93%
Standard kanji spelling for both the physical foundation and the adverbial sense.
どだい Usage 7%
Etymology Compound of 土 (earth, ground) and 台 (platform, base). The adverbial sense developed from the idea of 'from the very foundation'.
土台 often names a physical foundation or figurative groundwork, whereas 基盤 sounds more formal and is common in policy, business, and technical contexts.
土台 usually describes a literal, structural base (like a house's foundation), while 下地 more often refers to abstract preparatory conditions or skills.
土台 is a concrete, everyday word for a physical or metaphorical foundation, while 基 is formal and literary in tone.