with the addition of an honorific prefix.
Fu
Fuku 服, unlike “clothes” or “clothing,” does not include underwear. Kinō fuku o aratta きのう服を洗った (lit., “I washed clothes yesterday”) sounds as though you washed washable dresses or suits.
Fuku usually refers to Western-style clothes such as dresses and suits, and not to kimonos. However, if one really wants to make a clear distinction between kimonos and Western-style clothes, one should use wafuku 和服 or kimono 着物 for the former and yōfuku 洋服 for the latter, as in
EXAMPLE:
Konogoro no wakamono wa yōfuku bakari de, wafuku wa motte-iru hito mo sukunai darō.
このごろの若者は洋服ばかりで、和服は持っている人も少ないだろう。
Young men these days wear only Western clothes, and there are probably very few who own kimonos.
Fu
Furui 古い meaning “old” is used, as a rule, in reference to inanimate things.
EXAMPLES:
(1) Anna furui ie wa kawanai hō ga ii desu yo.
あんな古い家は買わない方がいいですよ。
You shouldn’t buy an old house like that.
(2) Kono ōbā mo zuibun furuku-natta.
このオーバーもずいずん古くなった。
This overcoat has gotten quite old.
With reference to persons, other words such as toshi o totta 年をとった “old, aged,” toshiyori 年寄り “old person,” and rōjin 老人 “old person” have to be used.
EXAMPLES:
(3) Murata-san mo toshi o totta nē.
村田さんも年をとったねえ。
Hasn’t Mr. Murata grown old!
(4) Asoko ni toshiyori no obāsan ga suwatte-iru deshō.
あそこに年寄りのおばあさんが座っているでしょう。
Do you see that old lady sitting there?
(5) Ano rōjin-tachi ni seki o yuzurō.
あの老人達に席をゆずろう。
Let’s give our seats to those old people.
When furui 古い is used with reference to persons, it can carry different meanings.
EXAMPLES:
(6) Kono kaisha de ichiban furui no wa Yamada-san da.
この会社で一番古いのは山田さんだ。
The person with the most seniority in this firm is Mr. Yamada.
(7) Ano hito wa mō furui.
あの人はもう古い。
He is passé (or behind the times)
Furui 古い is sometimes shortened to furu 古 and added to other words to form compounds.
EXAMPLE:
(8) furu-hon, furu-gi, furu-shinbun 古本、古着、古新聞
used books, used clothes, old newspapers
Fu
If you asked Japanese people what words sound the best to them, I have a feeling they might choose furusato ふるさと as one of them. Furusato (lit., “old home village”) is indeed a poetic-sounding, nostalgia-soaked word. It is probably not very frequently used in ordinary conversation but more commonly in literary works such as poems. The same is true with kokyō 故郷, which also means “old home village.” The most common expression in daily conversation is kuni 国 (lit. “country”), as in
EXAMPLE:
Obon ni wa, chotto kuni no ryōshin no tokoro e ikō to omotte-imasu.
お盆には、ちょっと国の両親の所へ行こう思っています。
I’m thinking of going home to visit my parents in the country for the Bon Festival.
Fu
“To gain weight” is futoru 太る, and not futoku naru 太くなる “to become thick.”
EXAMPLE:
(1) Yoshida-san wa mukashi zuibun yasete ita keredo, kekkon-shite sukoshi futotta yō da.
吉田さんは昔ずいぶんやせていたけれど、結婚して少し太ったようだ。
Mr. Yoshida used to be very thin, but he seems to have gained some weight since he got married.
Futoku naru 太くなる may refer to a person’s arms and legs, as in sentence (2), but not his/her whole body.
EXAMPLE:
(2) Ano rikishi wa kono goro futotte, ude mo ashi mo futoku-natta.
あの力士はこのごろ太って、腕も足も太くなった。
Recently that sumo wrestler has gained weight; both his arms and his legs have become bigger.
Since futoru 太る by itself means “to become fat” or “to gain weight,” it is totally unnecessary to add naru なる to express the sense of “to become.” It is therefore wrong to use (3) below to mean “I have gained weight.”
EXAMPLE:
(3) *Watashi wa futotte ni natta.
