This week I got an email from a fellow student who is having trouble dealing with all of the different words for "different."

If you've been studying Japanese for a while, I'm guessing that you can relate to his pains.

I blame English-Japanese dictionaries and their continual disregard for levels of formality, usefulness, and frequency of language.

So let's get to the point--I want to look at 4 different ways to say "different / difference." They are:

1) 違う（ちがう // to differ [from]; to vary; to be wrong）
2) 違い（ちがい // difference; discrepancy）
3) 別（べつ // distinction; difference; different; separate）
4) 異なる（ことなる // to differ; to vary）

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1) 違う（ちがう // to differ [from]; to vary; to be wrong）

First, we have the verb 違う.

This could mean "to be different," as in this sentence:

アフリカとヨーロッパの文化は全然違う。
アフリカ　と　ヨーロッパ　の　ぶんか　は　ぜんぜん　ちがう。
Africa and Europe have totally different cultures.
Literally: "Africa + と + Europe + の + culture + は + completely + are different."

So that structure is "A と B は 違う," and it means "A and B are different." This usage is very common, and I encourage you to use it in both spoken and written language. It's basically the standard way to say that things are different.

You can also use 違う to say that something's wrong.

For example, say you're talking to your friend, who is supposed to meet you for coffee this Saturday. You have told him/her 86,439 times that you are meeting at 10 AM. Saturday morning comes around, and he/she calls or texts you saying, "So, see you at 11?"

That's it! You've had it! So you say...

違う！10時だってば！
ちがう！ じゅうじ　だってば！
No! I told you, 10 o'clock!!
Literally: "be wrong/different + 10 o'clock + is + I told you!"
Note: When you want to say "I told you X," then all you have to do is say "X (in plain form) + ってば！" Also, when you're really annoyed at someone, you can pronounce each syllable of 違う, like ち・が・う！

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2) 違い（ちがい // difference; discrepancy）

The noun form of 違う is 違い. So we could say:

「違う」と「異なる」の違いは何ですか？
「ちがう」と「ことなる」の　ちがい　は　なん　です　か？
What's the difference between chigau and kotonaru?
Literally: "chigau + と + kotonaru + の + difference + は + what + ですか？"

Or, more casually:

「違う」と「異なる」の違いって何？
「ちがう」と「ことなる」の　ちがい　って　なに？
What's the difference between chigau and kotonaru?
Literally: "chigau + と + kotonaru + の + difference + って + what？"

We can also use the verb 違う for those above sentences, by the way, saying どう違う, which technically means "how + are different?"

「違う」と「異なる」はどう違いますか？
「ちがう」と「ことなる」は　どう　ちがいますか？
What's the difference between chigau and kotonaru?
Literally: "chigau + と + kotonaru + は + how + differ + か？"

And again, the more casual version is...

「違う」と「異なる」ってどう違うの？
「ちがう」と「ことなる」って　どう　ちがう　の？
What's the difference between chigau and kotonaru?
Literally: "chigau + と + kotonaru + は + how + differ + の？"

Moving on!

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3) 別（べつ // distinction; difference; different; separate）

Let's look at 別（べつ）.

Instead of thinking of 別 as meaning "different," I think you should memorize it as meaning "(not) particularly," "(not) especially," or "separate (from)."

However! That's kind of misleading, because 別 can mean "different."

Maybe I can phrase it this way...

違う・違い mean "differ" in the sense of two of more things having qualities that are different.

別, however, is used when we want to separate different things into distinct categories.

What's the difference between A and B?
→ What are the qualities of A and B that make them different from one another?
→→ 違う・違い！！

This is a different book than that one.
→ This is not the same book as that one (don't lump them together in the same category).
→→ 別！！

Take this sentence, for example:

目標と夢は別だ。
もくひょう　と　ゆめ　は　べつ　だ。
Goals and dreams are different things.
Literally: "goal / objective + と + dream + は + different + だ."

Then we have this usage...

別の方法も試してみよう。
べつ　の　ほうほう　も　ためして　みよう。
Let's also try a different method.
Literally: "different + の + method + も + attempt + let's try [see]."

Does that make sense at all?

If not, no worries--I have an awesome solution for you:

Don't worry about it.

I learned the differences between these naturally through large volumes of exposure. Actually, when I set out to write this lesson, I got a bit confused, thinking, I don't know the difference!

But I do use them differently. So I must understand the difference on some level. What we have in this lesson is an imperfect attempt to capture that understanding.

Which brings me to our last word...

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4) 異なる（ことなる // to differ; to vary）

異なる（ことなる）means pretty much the same thing as 違う, except for when 違う means "to be wrong."

But! You're unlikely to hear 異なる very often in casual conversations. It comes up more in business situations and in written language. I almost never use this word... but that's because 99% of my spoken conversations are in casual Japanese these days.

好みは人によって異なる。
このみ　は　ひと　によって　ことなる。
Different people like different things.
Literally: "liking / taste + は + person + according to / depending on + differs / varies."

So now you've seen a few different examples of different words for different. ^_^