Short Grammar Questions

There is that weird thing (in anime at least) where someone will say something like 大河のばか, which has always felt backwards and wrong to me. But that’s the closest thing I can think of to compare to 大河のお姉ちゃん.

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I remember seeing this “nameの[お兄さん / お姉さん]” in manga/anime before, always by little kids. It always felt like a “お姉さん is too generic since I can refer to many other お姉さん that I know so I’ll specify exactly who I’m talking about” to me at least.
Seems like something a little kid would say since everyone older is an お兄さん・お姉さん to them so you specify exactly who it is.

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But what does that achieve that just not putting a の wouldn’t? I can grasp that it’s grammatically possible, but I haven’t heard someone say it in real life.

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Beats me :man_shrugging:. It might sound cute or something, but I’m hesitant to speculate.

Welcome Sandfox! Just to let you know, you replied to a comment made almost 3 years ago.

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And replied incorrectly, coughcough

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If you use 行く (行っている) like this it would translate to “(someone) is currently at/away for school”, not “going to”.
“I’m going to school now” you should use 行く.
If you want to say something like “I’m currently heading to school” (i.e. in the process), then I think 向かっている is more appropriate

I saw this sentence today: 早くてもいいんです。
I’m pretty sure I understand what the sentence is saying, but what is the function of ん here?

Makes an explanatory tone.

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Yes, it seemed a little weird to me. I don’t have an example from the manga since I wasn’t reading the manga, but it sounds like maybe it’s just an atypical usage or something little kids might say.

Thank you all for your help!

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Hello, everyone! First time posting on this thread. :smiley: Yesterday, I came upon this sentence while reading the description for a children’s book:
「恐怖の黒魔法使い」から、今度こそ本当に心を入れかえて戻ってきた大形くん。
I translated this as:
“Oogata-kun has returned from the Black Mage (black magic user) of Fear, this time with a completely changed (replaced??) heart.”
This was the very first sentence in the description, which I found strange. 「恐怖の黒魔法使い」から、今度こそ本当に心を入れかえて戻ってきた is modifying 大形くん, yet wouldn’t this type of sentence usually put the main verb at the end? Is there even a main verb here?
Could you also say: 今度こそ、「恐怖の魔法使い」から大形くんのは本当心を入れかえて戻ってきた。
Sorry if this post makes no sense! I’d be happy to try to clarify anything! :sweat_smile:

It looks like what you are seeing is the use of the た form of a verb to modify a noun.

It would be like saying:

これは食べた弁当。

This is a bento I ate.

And in this sentence, and I believe in your sentence above, there is an implied state of being. Like how you can say:

学生だ。
or
学生。

The second sentence means the same thing and has an implied だ.

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I figured it had to be the た-form modification, but It felt strange reading that sort of sentence as the opening line for a book description. That’s just my english-speaking brain only focusing to much on a Subject-Verb-Object pattern, I think! Thanks a lot! :hugs:

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Would be a reasonable rephrasing, I think.

But the way to think of it, as a first sentence of a story, feels like setting a scene, right? Also, in fiction, writers tend to have their own styles and get to break the ‘rules’ you learn as a learner.

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Thanks for the help! Sometimes it’s hard for me to know when to use/when not to use combined particles. And I think you’re definitely right about the line being used to set a scene. I hadn’t thought of it that way, but that makes it sound a whole lot less weird! I haven’t read a lot of native material yet, so learning the difference nuances/approaches writers will use in their work is new to me. :slight_smile:

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Just got started with my grammar studies and I’m writing some practice sentences. I just learned the usage of います and あります. Can someone confirm that I’m using/translating this right?

犬は私の布団にいます。 “The dog is on my futon.”

私の布団に犬がいます。 “There is a dog on my futon.”

かれは私の家にかれの車があります。 “He has his car at my house.”

私の家にかれの車があります。“His car is at my house.”

Thanks!

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This looks good to me, but I’m no expert! I usually see かれ written in kanji, so 彼, but I still understand what you meant. Keep it up! :smile:

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That かれの is not necessary, imo. It’s clear from the topic marker.

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Heh, on top of answering my question you also just made me learn a level 35 kanji. Thanks!

Good to know, thanks for the tip :slightly_smiling_face:

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In Genki chapter 7:

ロバートさんは料理を作るのが上手です。
“Robert is good at cooking meals.”

Two questions here, that maybe have the same answer:

  1. Where does “meals” come from in this sentence?
  2. Since 料理 is a suru verb, why is it not more simply "。。。は料理するの上手です