On p58, in the middle of the second line is ここには. Should we think of には in this context as adding emphasis to ここ? If は wasn’t there, how would it change the meaning of the sentence?
Same with リリーさんには in the last sentence on p62.
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The two examples are quite different, but it’s a contrast marker in both.
As for the first:
Negative statements often contain は as a contrast marker because they are seen to always contrast the reality with what might be (or something like that).
It doesn’t really have any particular meaning in practice but I think it might just sound a bit odd to leave it out in some cases since it’s a common pattern.
E.g. ではない/ではありません both most commonly have a contrast marker in them, even though でない / でありません would also be grammatical.
Whereas である and であります do not contain it.
It’s kind of a bit like English has “do” in every negative statement but generally only in emphatic positive ones (“I smoke” – “I don’t smoke” – “I do smoke”).
Or maybe even like “ne” in French which occurs in all negative sentences (“I don’t” “I never” “I [verb] nothing” “I [verb] nobody” etc.)
As for the second:
It’s a clear contrast marker.
(You know it’s a contrast marker because there is a topic already.)
In English we might use intonation or some phrasing like
“Speaking of the cat, was it particularly fond of Lily?” (as opposed to other people)
EDIT: I’m a bit confused about the に in the second sentence though…
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I think the に in the second sentence marks Lily as an indirect object, so we know who なついていた refers to. なつく is a transitive verb.
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I agree it’s likely the object.
But transitive verbs normally take direct objects (marked with を or が), not indirect objects.
(Those that do take indirect object take them in addition to a direct object)
Weblio seems to have example sentence only with …をなつく and …になつている so this does seem to be a pattern.
Really curious what’s going on here.
I’m thinking now it’s just a matter of Jisho being incomplete.
Weblio lists it as intransitive or transitive according to different sources.
I suspect there might be a meaning difference but I’m not sure.
I think I was mistaken about ている being relevant at all, there are examples that don’t use the ている form, but do use に.
tl;dr なつく here is an intransitive verb that takes an indirect object with に
Page 60
I’ve only been away a couple of days, but I feel like what little Japanese I did have in my brain has all drained away! So I pick up the book this morning and the problems start!
「あいかぎを もっているのは おひとりですか？」
This is what I know, and don’t know!!
「 - this is Hanae speaking
あいかぎを - 合鍵を - spare key (+object marker)
もっている - having
の - nominaliser??
は - topic marker
おひとり - one person (with polite お)
ですか？」- question
“Does just [that] one person have a spare key?”
My problem is the の. I know it is a nominaliser. I know it turns “is having” into “the is having thing” but even typing this makes my brain melt. What does it actually mean??? Thanks if anyone can explain!
の can be both concrete (“the thing/person that is X”) and abstract (“X-ing”)
(もの can only be the first and こと only the second)
This construction XのはYです is called a cleft sentence and usually involves the concrete meaning.
Hence
“As for the people having keys, are they just one person?”
“Does just one person have a spare key?”
For comparison, cleft sentences in English
“John is the one that ate the cake”
“Mary is the one I love”
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Page 60
Another breakdown (sentence, not mental!), and how’s my translation??
「あとは となり町に 下宿している 娘のリリーが もってるわ。」
「 - Ipponmatsu-san speaking
あとは -additionally
となり町に - in the next town
下宿している - this looks like “boarding house doing” but obviously means “lodging”
娘のリリーが - my daughter Lily, (plus the identifier particle)
もってる - “is having” but translates as “has”
わ。」- female ending particle
“Plus, [my] daughter Lily, who is lodging in the next town [also] has [one].”
Thanks for any help improving this one!
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Wow, aiju, thank you!
looks fine.
some notes:
Tae Kim calling が the “identifier particle” seems at least as confusing as calling it “subject”… (what does that even mean?)
Here が (as well as marking the subject) also indicates that it’s new information (Lily hasn’t been mentioned before)
Because it appears in answer to a question it might also be construed to have an “exclusive” connotation (“it’s only Lily that has a key”).
(Knowing when が has the exclusive meaning is one of the trickier things about は/が)
もつ in もって(い)る literally means more like “take” I think
もっている = literally something like “has taken and is still holding”
(“have” or “holds” usually is a good translation, though, just wanted to explain the grammar)
Thank you again so much!
I see! I don’r know what to call it! I suppose, really, I ought to just call it が!
Very useful! Thank you so much!
Page 60
Just a little question about だ.
かえってきて ほしいんだけど, うちに よりつかないの
かえってきて - come and return home
ほしい - [I] want
ん - explanation particle
だ - copula. But I wonder why it is here?
けど - but
うちによりつかない - [she] doesn’t come home
の - another explanation particle!
“[I] want her to come home, but [she] doesn’t come home”
If the だ was left out of this sentence, what difference would it make?
–
Edit: Oh, I see! The explanation particle isn’t just ん or の, it is んだ or のだ, got it! But in that case, why is it just の at the end of the sentence above? (My brain is now officially dead!)
Edit: page 62… ぬすんだのは. So, ん + だ + の + は,… this is all too much for me! I need to go lie down for a while!
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Page 62
猫は リリーさんには なついていたんですか？
猫は - as for the cat
リリーさん - Lily-san
には - for (in regard to)
なついていた - なつく, 懐く - to become emotionally attached (to), in ている form and past tense
んです - explanatory particle (I’m getting more and more confused about this!)
か？- question
“Was the cat emotional attached to Lily?”
I have got that the right way round haven’t it? It looks like it, and I hope it’s right!
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Page 63
そのかわり、ごんじろうが そばにくると にげまわっていたわ。
そのかわり、- その代わり - instead; but (on the other hand)
ごんじろうが - Gonjirou (the ex-husband) (plus が particle)
そばにくる - come near (when I first saw そばにく I thought it must be soba noodles with meat!)
と - and? also? I don’t know.
にげまわっていた - ていた form of 逃げ回る - to run from place to place, ie. “was running around”
わ。- female sentence ending particle
“On the other hand, [the cat] was also running around near Gonjirou”.
What is that と? (Any help much appreciated!)
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Page 63
Phew, finally caught up! But that last sentence on page 63 is really difficult!
つかまっちゃって、いまごろ どんな こわいめに あっていることか。。。
つかまっちゃって、- 捕まる = to be caught, but I have no idea what form this is. っちゃって -? (Though perhaps connected to the “screwed up” meaning???)
いまごろ - 今頃 - about this time
どんな - what kind of
こわいめに - 怖い目 - scary eyes (and direction particle)
あっていること - ある (to be/have) in ている form and nominalised with こと. - is having? Has?
か… -question?
“[Poor Catherine], held against her will, what frightened eyes she [must] have at this time”
Am I on the right lines?
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Yes, you can end a sentence in just の to convey a similar meaning as んだ. Note that I believe using 「の」 in this manner often sounds rather feminine.
と can be used as a conditional form - one of its common use cases is:
X (verb) と Y can mean (whenever X, Y happens)
So in this case,
そばにくると - whenever Gonjirou came by the cat’s side
にげまわっていた - it would run around
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That’s basically what I got out of those sentences.
(and yeah the ちゃって part is a casual version of 〜てしまう in て form, as in something regrettably happening etc)
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ん and の are actually derived from んです and のです only. They have the exact same meaning, males use のです/んです commonly and females (and children) use の and ん. Also, when けど comes after nouns and na-adjectives, you need a だ before. Since, here there’s an i-adjective, I guess she’s using the full んだ.
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Thank you so much for those wonderful explanations @Cychloryn! Really, very much appreciated! Thank you so much!