Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [cleft-sentences]

分裂文. Sentences "clefted" into two parts. In Japanese, these commonly take the the form 〜のは〜だ or 〜のが〜だ, putting focus on the precopular constituent.

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I don't understand what のも means in 生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ

Here's the sentence in question: 生まれたのも育ったのも京都なんですよ I thought using の in a sentence signified possession (e.g. 私の本 [My book]). If I interpret the sentence as such, it doesn't make any sense. Then I came to the conclusion that I should include the…
Korclus
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How to appropriately pair tenses in subordinate and main clauses?

Consider the following combination. Which is the correct one? テレビが私の国で 《できた》 のは１９６０ 《です》。 テレビが私の国で 《できる》 のは１９６０ 《です》。 テレビが私の国で 《できた》 のは１９６０ 《でした》。 テレビが私の国で 《できる》 のは１９６０ 《でした》。 Note: The important words are intentionally bracketed for the sake of…
Friendly Ghost
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Varying word order for stylistic effect

Sometimes, for stylistic or rhetorical effect, one wants to delay mentioning a word/concept until the end of a sentence. For example, it's often best to save the punchline for the very end: I was happy to discover that my ex was sentenced to life…
Mechanical snail
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Sentence ending のを(だ)

I do not understand the meaning of のを: a. 彼は家を買った。 しかも大きい庭付きのを(だ)。 (だ is indicated as optional) Is it different from: b. 彼は家を買った。 しかも大きい庭付きだ。 (I'm not sure if this is grammatical) c. 彼は家を買った。 しかも大きい庭付きのだ。 What does it mean when the copula takes…
Flaw
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Most natural way to write sentences of the type "A verbs that B verbs that C verbs that..."

A) I think the typical way to say Tanaka said that Yamata knows where the building is in Japanese is 田中さんは山田さんが建物はどこか知っていると言った Maybe it's more natural to say "the building's location" instead of using a interrogative clause, but the point is,…
Senjougahara Hitagi
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How to rephrase sentences with an ambiguous は to indicate the contrastive or thematic / 「主題」と「対比」の解釈の余地のある、あいまいな「は」の言い換え方

First, some background. My question is kind of an extension of this previously-answered question about the difference between は and が. While I am fairly clear on the different usages of は as a contrastive marker or a thematic marker, the explanation…
Lentlby
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が vs. は in のが/のは...である cleft-sentence structure

The following is a sentence from the Japanese Wikipedia article about Berlin: ベルリンという名称が歴史的文書で最も古く遡れるのが1244年である。 I understand the sentence, but I would have expected 遡れるのは here instead of 遡れるのが, just like a prototypical cleft-sentence. Would the…
Kaskade
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Can someone verify the reasons I give for using a "wa" and "ga" in this sentence?

私の生みの母は、若い未婚の日本人だったため、私を養子に出そうと決心したのです。彼女がこだわったのは、私の養子先は日本に住んでいる家族でなければ、ということでした。 The highlighted "は" looks to be there for thematic reasons? The highlighted "ga" looks to be there for neutral description?
Just Someone
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Confused in choosing でした or です in のは～だ grammar

Which one is the correct one between the following 2 sentences? Are my English translations correct? A: 昨日食べたのは肉まんです。 A': It is nikuman (steamed meat bun) that I ate yesterday. B: 昨日食べたのは肉まんでした。 B': It was nikuman (steamed meat bun) that I ate…
Second Person Shooter
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「昨日ここへ来たのはだれですか」Is の short for 者?

昨日ここへ来たのはだれですか Book translation: who is the one who came here yesterday? My understanding is the following: 「昨日ここへ来た」 is a relative clause modifying the pronoun 「の」 to mean "the one who came here yesterday", then は marks it as the topic. Because…
Nameless
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Plain Verb followed by がよい

Recently I am reading 走れメロス, and there is a sentence pattern that I am not familiar with (Group 2). Compare the following sentence groups: Group 1 訪ねて行くのが楽しみである。 疑うのが、正当の心構えなのだと、わしに教えてくれたのは、おまえたちだ。 Group…
NoNames
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たんですから vs たからなんです

私がこの町のことをよく知っているのは、 前に________。 1. 住んでいたんですから 2. 住んでいたからなんです According to the answer key, the correct answer is 2. I want to know why it is not answer 1. What is the difference between たんですから and たからなんです?
GB Boss
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Translation help: 私が困っているのがはつおんですね

This is a trascript from a podcast I was listening to. The woman was asked about what she thought was the hardest aspect in learning english, to which she replied 私が困っているのがはつおんですね So... why 私が instead of 私に (meaning 'to me'). Not only that but,…
Gabu
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How to say "the one I sent the letter to"

I sent him the letter - 彼に手紙を送ってあげた　 He was the one who sent me the letter - 手紙を送ってくれたのは、彼だった He was the one I sent the letter to - ???
Karl Leitner
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fragmented statement and いつの世も

Speaker talking about a painting with a goddess and an owl 「ミネルヴァの梟は夜に飛ぶ──と記したのはヘーゲルでしたか。知恵の女神の聖鳥である梟もまた知恵の象徴」 「そんな梟が夜に飛び立ったのを人が知るのは、夜が明けて朝になってから。いつの世も人は起こったことしか知ることができないのです」 「未来のことがわかれば……なんて、誰しも思ってしまいますけどね。ふふ」 The people who know that the owl…
charu
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