Hello everyone! I’m very new here and I have a question about word order.
Let’s have an example:
私はぜんぜんテレビをみません。- I never watch TV.
My question is, could this be expressed with the word order being different, like:
私はテレビをぜんぜんみません。
Thank you all!
Raphael
Welcome!
Yes, that’s absolutely valid - that particular arrangement is even common.
One of the great joys of Japanese is that since the particles define the function a word plays in a sentence, you can rearrange a sentence however you like, and it’ll still make sense, provided you keep the same particles with the same words (and other modifying phrases). That said, it is possible to jumble things too much - if the direct object gets too far from the verb, for example, people might forget what you were talking about before you finish the sentence - but in general, have at it.
Very helpful comments, thanks again!
Of course it also changes the feel of the sentence. The emphasis gets placed on different information. But grammatically you’re A-OK!
Where do you feel the emphasis on the first one as opposed to the second?
Japanese is my third language, my mother tongue is greek and I know very good english, but I’m yet so new at it that I can’t tell such things as emphasis and nuance.
ぜんぜん is such an attention grabber, I think in this case it’s hard to pinpoint.
Yeah, in general I usually see ぜんぜん close to the verb when it means “not at all” and at the beginning of the sentence when it means “completely”.
Here are some examples from Harry Potter:
Sorry it’s a pic. Kindle is weird about copy/paste.
This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
