Translating “different”?


I’m having trouble figuring out how to translate “different.”

I know the words 違う and 違い but I don’t know how to incorporate those to mean
“different” or if that would even be correct.

> 「違う色がきれいだね。」
>
> “The different colors are pretty.”

or

> 「ううん、違う犬が持っている。」
>
> “No, they have a different dog.”

I’m thinking it would be 違う used in a relative clause like “No, they have a
dog that differs” (a different dog) but I’m not sure.




別{べつ}(の) sounds like what you are looking for. It's a common word meaning
"different", "distinct", "separate", and works well in a lot of situations.

> 別の道{みち}を探{さが}そう。 Let's look for a different path.
>
> 彼は酔{よ}っ払う{ぱらう}とまるで別人{べつじん}になる。 He turns into a completely different man when
> he's drunk.
>
> それとも別の味{あじ}がいいの？ Or would you prefer a different flavour?

違う is usable in that way, but rarer; it tends to convey the idea that a
previous proposition was false, which is why it is so commonly used as
standalone to mean "no" ("not quite").

