I’m not fluent in 中二病 but I think this is just the Japanese way of talking more indirectly rather than outright say something is more interesting, saying it seems more interesting.
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Haha where does that play into this?
I can get behind that. Its weird to think about, but I can at least understand how it would be more indirect.
This makes sense
But I have no idea what you mean by this lol. The guy is talking to himself for both lines. Like I said, Im alright if he is using the “sou” as seems like, but it is definitely not what I would have expected. I dunno. The first thing that you said that I quoted is good enough for me, honestly.
I don’t think that really changes the meaning of the overall translation though. I just assumed he was referring to someone else because of the 鳴沢が. Either way, it’s about appearing to bring forth a topic that is interesting. (although, be aware that literally what he is bringing is interest and that whole clause modifies 話題, but I’ve changed it slightly to better fit English). Hopefully the previous comments were enough to suffice.
Not bringing forth a topic that appears to be interesting (for her)?
Appearing to bring forth a topic that is interesting doesnt really make sense.
This is why translating to English is tricky, especially with a sentence with so many modifiers.
Starting from scratch,
First with
This basically says that the person is appearing to bring forth interest. The 興味 is what is being brought. The もってくれる (持つ te-form with te-form) is the verb indicating bring forth. So from there we can assume bring forth interest.
The そう indicates that it appears like X (X being what is doing the bring forth, in this case the main character you said?) is bringing forth interest.
Now, for the next part:
話題 is what is being modified. Therefore the thing that X is bringing forth interest into is 話題. I translated it as interesting topic because it is more natural to say that then the sentence above.
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It was my understanding そう modified the 興味もってくれる. A topic that seems like it would bring forth interest. What you’re saying isn’t making sense. Youre saying the そう is modifying the person that is bringing forth the interest?
No, it’s modifying the act of bringing forth interest. That act, in turn, modifies topic, 話題.
Ah then we agree. I just hard time understanding that’s what you meant.
Yeah, it’s just a little hard to explain given how their really is not any English equivalent to some of these ideas. You essentially have to go into pretty lengthy conversations just to explain something as simple as verbs or verb phrases modifying subjects in English.
It’s not about appearing to do anything. It’s about bringing up a topic that might be interesting to the other person. I think @Vanilla figured it out. But it’s not strange. If you don’t know exactly what the other person is interested in taking about, you need to do your best and read clues that get you closer to something the other person would find interesting. It’s probably not the weather. Here’s a few:
You/I have to come up with topics that Narusawa would be likely to have more interest in.
You’ve/I’ve got to come with topics that Narusawa might have more interest in.
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I think you might be misinterpreting what I’m saying, so let me elaborate.
Here, the そう is modifying もってくれる. The modified phrase is a verb. On this bases, something is “appearing to be done”. That something is the bringing forth of interest.
All of that then modified something else as you can see with the な.
Specifically, 話題 is what is being modified. Therefore 話題 becomes the interesting thing. 話題 is the thing into which interest is being brought.
In other words
And
Are not two mutually exclusive items. That is, if we were to take a literally translated approach to the sentence in that “appearing to do anything” modifies 話題.
You’re thinking is deep, but I see this differently. It’s not the bringing forth of interest. It’s a person seeming to have interest. 持つ = to possess, to have. を出さないと is the part that covers the bringing forth or throwing out there. 持ってくれそう is not uncommon Japanese. It’s not about bringing - it’s about holding or having.
Edit: If you’re having a pot luck dinner and you’re wondering what someone might bring, I could see 持ってくれそう being used in the way you describe.
Edit:
興味を持つ
get ［become］ interested
get curious
take an interest
take interest
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I have a question about time expressions and the は particle.
If I want to say “Tomorrow is a holiday” which one is grammatically correct? Are both correct?
明日は休日です。
明日休日です。
While 明日 is the subject of the sentence you can also construct in a way that uses it in an adverbial sense. In that case the nuance is a little different but the meaning is basically the same. Is my train of thought correct?
Does it work the same way if I use a time expression that uses に?
月曜日は休日です。
月曜日に休日です。
明日は休日です。is correct. “Tomorrow is a day off”
明日、休日です。is also correct, “It’s a day off, tomorrow”.
I guess that’s what you mean by the meaning being a little bit different.
I feel like に would not work in this context, as the holiday does not happen on Monday, Monday is the holiday.
Could the は here be interpreted as being for contrast rather than just being the topic? So:
明日、休日です。Tomorrow is a day off. (neutral)
明日は休日です。Tomorrow (as opposed to other days) is a day off.
Ah, that’s also true, depending on context.
- 明後日、休日ですか？
- いいえ、平日ですが、明日は休日です。
Something like that, right?
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I just looked into は a bit and it indeed can be interpreted that way.
Then about the phrase 明日、休日です。
If that is correct, why is 月曜日に休日です。not?
According to Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar に is “a particle that indicates a point of time where s.th. takes place”.
In this case, does 休日です qualify as “takes place” or does に require a verb that descibes some form of action? Is the construct (time)に(something)です grammatically wrong in general?
No, it does not. It’s more a simple statement. “It is a holiday”.
I wouldn’t make it a rule, but I can’t think of any good example either.
There are some noun that imply an action (e.g. 電話です can mean that someone is calling right now) so if the action can be combined with a specific time, then it could work.
Again, I can’t think of anything, but it doesn’t make a rule either.
Yep, that’s what I had in mind.
To add to what Nath said, you can think of (time)に as implying that an action takes place. Since 休日です isn’t an action, it can’t take に.
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