Quote:Within a clause modifying a noun like this, が and の can be used interchangeably.

Unless the next word is a noun, because の would mark possession. Corollary: の clauses tend to be short.

I knew about the が -> の thing, and since Tae Kim is the only grammar guide I've ever read, it must have been in there. Might be worth a browse

My nascent intuition suggests to me that 強い風時 would have to be 強い風の時 but I'm far from certain about that.

You evidently read this thread, you could have learned it here.

His lesson on clauses doesn't mention it... then again, he only introduces の in the next lesson!

Vempele Wrote:

Quote:Within a clause modifying a noun like this, が and の can be used interchangeably.

Unless the next word is a noun, because の would mark possession. Corollary: の clauses tend to be short.

True, but I was only addressing the replacing of が with の. Guess I should have worded it that way.

Learning の as possession is a bad idea; that's one function of の but 日本人の友達 is not possession.

drdunlap Wrote:True, but I was only addressing the replacing of が with の. Guess I should have worded it that way.

So was I: my point was that you can't replace が with の if it would change the meaning, and that's the case if and only if the next word is a noun. Guess I should have worded it that way (and avoided referencing any specific function of の).

Oh. Right. Yes. Haha.

Things I learned today: I should really stop trying to explain Japanese.
(Or just get better at it. I guess.)

Thanks for your help.

Quick question: my Japanese reader claims that variations of "kuru" (to come) such as konai, kita etc. are most often written in all kana, as opposed to: 来ない、来た etc. So supposedly the Japanese prefer to write: こない、きた。

True or false? Thanks.

What is the difference between the particles ば and と when meaning 'if'?

It seems that ば is used with a Vcond (verb conditional form) only. If so, then why not just use Vtara (verb tara form)?

On the other hand, と seems to be used for adjectives and Vdic (verb dictionary form). Can it also be used for nouns?

Lastly, where does もし come in to all of this? I know it is used at the beginning of a sentence unlike a particle, but do verbs need to take the Vcond form and how does it work with nouns/adjectives?

Sorry for the loaded question. This is something that is really hindering me as I have 3 separate books for referencing particles, sentence patterns for verbs, and sentence patterns for adjectives/adverbs.

Thank you in advance!

john555 Wrote:Quick question: my Japanese reader claims that variations of "kuru" (to come) such as konai, kita etc. are most often written in all kana, as opposed to: 来ない、来た etc. So supposedly the Japanese prefer to write: こない、きた。

True or false? Thanks.

False. The kanji is extremely common when used as a verb by itself.

Hey guys, quick question.

I came across this sentence in Anki: 雨が降っているから、出かけるのはやめます。The translation they give is, "I will not go out, because it’s raining."

I know that [雨が降っているから] means, "because it is raining."

I know that [出] means, "to go out."

Denshi Jisho tells me that [かける] means "to fly or to run", and it tells me that [やめます] means "to cease."


But I don't get how [出かけるのはやめます] means, "I will not go out." I think mostly because I'm fuzzy as to how the の and は particles function in that sentence, what exactly かける means, why やめます is even there and why they didn't just use the negative form of 出 to mean, "not go out."


Thanks

出かける is a single verb meaning to go out. の makes going out a noun. So it basically means as for the thing of going out, will stop.

jourukun Wrote:What is the difference between the particles ば and と when meaning 'if'?

It seems that ば is used with a Vcond (verb conditional form) only. If so, then why not just use Vtara (verb tara form)?

On the other hand, と seems to be used for adjectives and Vdic (verb dictionary form). Can it also be used for nouns?

Lastly, where does もし come in to all of this? I know it is used at the beginning of a sentence unlike a particle, but do verbs need to take the Vcond form and how does it work with nouns/adjectives?

Sorry for the loaded question. This is something that is really hindering me as I have 3 separate books for referencing particles, sentence patterns for verbs, and sentence patterns for adjectives/adverbs.

Thank you in advance!

Japanese conditionals all express shades of meaning that don't exist in English. There isn't one particular conditional that equates exactly to 'if".
The first answer here is a pretty good explanation, much better than I could give anyhow.

Hi, what does the "to" mean after "minasan" in this sentence:

今日は皆さんと面白かった事、悲しかった事、恐ろしかった事、嬉しかった事の話をしたいと思って集まって貰ったのです。

Kyoo wa minasan to omosirokatta koto, kanasikatta koto, osorosikatta koto, uresikatta koto no hanasi o sitai to omotte atumatte moratta no desu.

Today, I have brought you all together because I want all of us to tell stories about something that was interesting, something that was sad, something frightening, and something happy.

john555 Wrote:Hi, what does the "to" mean

with

Inny Jan Wrote:

john555 Wrote:Hi, what does the "to" mean

with

But that doesn't make sense. What is the purpose of the "to"? Or maybe it's just a misprint.

It means "with", it connects to the "hanasi o sitai".

frosty_rain:

Quote:I know that [出] means, "to go out."

This is part of the problem in your parsing -- 出 has no meaning by itself; it's not a stand-alone word. 出る means "to go out", but since the the next thing is not る but かける, that leads to the parsing of 出かける as a word.

Quote:Denshi Jisho tells me that [かける] means "to fly or to run", and it tells me that [やめます] means "to cease."

やめます here is more like "give up [on doing something]".

john555 Wrote:minasan to ... koto no hanasi o sitai

with all-of-you (I) want-to-do talking about things...

Or, like yudan said:

john555 Wrote:minasan to ... hanasi o sitai

with all-of-you (I) want-to-do talking...

Inny Jan Wrote:

john555 Wrote:minasan to ... koto no hanasi o sitai

with all-of-you (I) want-to-do talking about things...

Or, like yudan said:

john555 Wrote:minasan to ... hanasi o sitai

with all-of-you (I) want-to-do talking...

Thanks everyone. That makes sense now.

I've actually got a question.

「智を増す者は悲しみを増す」などと申しますが、こと酒に関しては、このようなことはありません。酒に対する知的好奇心は人生を豊かにしてくれます。」

I don't need a translation, but for the life of me I can't figure out what the こと in こと酒 is doing here. My instinct is that it's functioning like 得に or 各, but I'm not entirely sure.

My first guess is 異, like 異国. But that's just a guess, it doesn't really seem to make sense there, and google isn't much help with the phrase. What's the subject of this piece?

Its the preface to a book I picked up in the local combini,　「 お酒入門」. Part of the 「スプライズGuide入門書シリーズ」。 It's basically, one of those how do you taste wine, what flavors do you look for in shochu type books.

I've never seen that before. I'm assuming it's a typo and they meant to say 酒のこと.

No, I've seen it too, in Dies Irae. Will post here the next time I see it.