49047
Amusingly enough, it seems like by swapping the kanji in 始終 you can get a
slightly different word. What is the difference between the two of them? I
found some answers on Japanese sites but reading them I feel like I'm just
going through a bunch of synonyms and very similar descriptions. An English
answer would really help...
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2017-07-04T17:24:39.060
49034
2017-07-05T02:21:13.747
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question
word-choice
Difference between 始終 and 終始?
始終（しじゅう） is relatively rare in modern Japanese, except that a four-kanji
compound [一部始終](http://jisho.org/word/%E4%B8%80%E9%83%A8%E5%A7%8B%E7%B5%82) is
common. Standalone 始終 mainly appears in stiff literary works as an adverb
meaning "all the time". If I heard 始終 in conversation, I might not understand
it.

終始（しゅうし） is much more common than 始終. It can also mean "all the time" or
"always", but I think it tends to mean "from beginning to end (of a certain
event, etc)" more often. 終始 is also a suru-verb. ～に終始する is a common phrase
meaning "to do only ～ from beginning to end."

> 会合は終始よいムードだった。  
>  The meeting was in a good mood from beginning to end.
>
> スピーチの中で、彼は弁解に終始した。  
>  In his speech, he entirely focused on making excuses.
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2017-07-05T02:10:45.160
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2017-07-05T02:21:13.747
2017-07-05T02:21:13.747
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answer