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恥ずべき is listed as an adjective in EDICT, as a 'compound word' (連語) in kotobank (here), and as a "noun or verb acting pre-nominally" on the Midori app. My question relates to a sample sentence I saw on EDICT (link).

君は、自分の愚かさを恥ずべきだ。You should be ashamed of your folly.

All the other examples I found are 恥ずべき+Noun (恥ずべき秘密, 恥ずべき行為, 恥ずべきこと, etc), making them noun phrases. But in the above example 恥ずべき is followed by the copula だ. Also, the inclusion of the particle を would seem to make it a verbal use of 恥ずべき since there is no other verb present.

So is that example sentence correct? If so, how is 恥ずべき functioning grammatically with を and the copula だ?

kandyman
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  • Related: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/18642/how-to-negate-%e3%81%b9%e3%81%8d-ie-should-not https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/7048/what-is-the-difference-between-%e3%81%b9%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89%e3%81%9a-and-%e3%81%b9%e3%81%8b%e3%82%89%e3%81%96%e3%82%8b – Ringil Feb 06 '19 at 22:47

1 Answers1

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「恥ずべき」 is a combination of the verb 恥ず and the auxiliary verb べし.

https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E3%81%B9%E3%81%97

Both of these words follow somewhat archaic grammar patterns, so they don't behave like most modern verbs.

  • 恥ずべき functions with を because it is a verb taking a direct object

  • 恥ずべき functions with the copula だ because べき is the form of the auxiliary verb べし that attaches to the copula

sazarando
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    Ok I understand it can take を if it functions as a verb and it can be followed by だ when it is nominalized as べき. But how can it be **both** at the same time? – kandyman Feb 06 '19 at 21:29
  • べき isn't a nominalized form, but rather a "linking" form, so 恥ずべき remains a verb and is "linked" to the copula. – sazarando Feb 06 '19 at 21:47
  • Ok, I was seeing it as a nominalized form rather a verb. – kandyman Feb 06 '19 at 21:49
  • The べき in this case is the 残存形 of the verb べし. – sazarando Feb 06 '19 at 21:56
  • べき used with だ behaves like a 形容動詞 (na-adjective) – sazarando Feb 06 '19 at 22:01
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    Thinking about it, I actually use ～をすべきだ myself in speech. I didn't even realize it was the same form. I guess I'm not used to seeing ～べき other than すべき. – kandyman Feb 06 '19 at 22:02
  • Good point! Even in the case of すべき it is す + べき (archaic grammar strikes again) – sazarando Feb 06 '19 at 22:04