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Is there a clear difference between the meanings of 十分 and 十二分? I rarely have
ever seen the second one. When should the second one be used and in what
context?

EDIT: To avoid confusion, I'm talking about when used in the context of
"enough" or "sufficient". Also, why is it that 十分 meaning "10 minutes" is also
used to mean "enough"?
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2012-05-14T15:22:01.830
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2019-11-13T12:42:04.470
2012-05-14T15:54:35.497
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question
definitions word-choice
Difference between 十分 and 十二分
I will preface this by saying that I am making some assumptions on different
readings of the kanji. I never really thought of this term as "ten minutes"
when used in the metaphoric sense as "enough," for the obvious reason that the
pronunciation is different, but maybe there is an actual correlation that I am
unaware of.

"Ten minutes" is pronounced じっぷん or じゅっぷん.

"Satisfactory" or "enough" is pronounced じゅうぶん.

> 十二分= More than enough
>
> 十分= Plenty; enough; sufficient; satisfactory; adequate;

In a counting system based on intervals of ten, the number ten will represent
a complete set. 分 can be thought of as "degree," as well as minute (it has
many meanings). Thus a "complete degree" of something will be "enough". This
expression can be seen as arbitrary in as much as an english speaker will use
"100%" as an arbitrary term to mean "giving it one's all," or will say "That
girl is a ten" to mean a stunning beauty.
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2012-05-14T16:09:35.830
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2012-05-14T16:22:57.487
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer
分 is used as "one tenth" in several context, e.g. [in these meanings on
jisho.org](https://jisho.org/word/%E5%88%86-1). So 十分 is ten tenths, or 100%,
or enough. 十二分 is equivalent to twelve tenths, or 120%, or more than enough.
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answer