Questions tagged [nominalization]

名詞化. Turning a grammatical constituent such as a clause into a noun phrase, often using a nominalizing particle or formal noun such as の or こと.

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What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?

As Derek mentioned in his postscript, both こと and の are nominalizers that can turn a verb into a noun. ピアノを弾く【ひく】。 I play the piano. ピアノを弾く【ひく】のが好き【すき】です。 I like playing the piano. ピアノを弾く【ひく】ことが好き【すき】だ。 I like playing the piano. I had always…
Troyen
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What is the difference between -さ and -み suffixes to make a noun out of an adjective?

For example, both 悲しさ and 悲しみ are glossed as “sadness” in JMdict. What's the difference? According to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar, 〜み “is more emotive and concrete characterization of some state”, while 〜さ “describes, in an analytical…
pingish
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Zero-nominalisation - Why and When?

Building on from Zhen Lin's answer to "The grammar of ~かれ~かれ", Brief explanation of Zero-nominalisation: Nominalisation refers to the process of turning a word, or more generally a phrase, into a noun or noun phrase. For example, こと and もの are…
Flaw
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What's the difference between 静けさ and 静かさ?

Much to my disbelief (no, I'm kidding, it happens all the time), I found out that my handbook was wrong to tell me we must use 静けさ, because 静かさ doesn't exist. Wiki(tionary) says "For degree, corresponding to the English quietness, both 静かさ…
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Nominalization with のが、のを

I've just learned to nominalize verbs with のを but as I was looking for more info on the web I saw that this is also done with のが and こと. The question "What is the difference between the nominalizers こと and の?" uses のを and のが as if they were the same…
Julian
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When do I use の/こと as a nominalizer, and when do I use というの/ということ?

I'm studying nominalizers and don't understand when to use の/こと and when to use というの/ということ. For example, in the sentence: こんなによく[遅刻]{ちこく}をするというのは[問題]{もんだい}ですよ。 Could I say: こんなによく[遅刻]{ちこく}をするのは[問題]{もんだい}ですよ。 Is there any rule to choose の/こと or…
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Why do we need to use 2 nominalizers もの and こと in the following sentence?

Why do we need to use 2 nominalizers もの and こと in the following sentence? 素数とは、1 より大きい自然数で、正の約数が 1 と自分自身のみであるもののことである。
Second Person Shooter
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Usage of nan desu?

In a few songs I've heard recently I've noticed that なんです(nan desu) (without the か) has been used in what seems to be maybe a declarative or emphatic sense (not really sure), is this possible? I'm not overly familiar with usage of nan desu outside…
mattb
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Does the nominalizer 〜の require the adnominal form before it? If yes, why?

A while back I was trying to break down 〜なの, and this is what I decided on (with the help of some of Bart Mathias's posts on mailing lists). My hypothesis is that the nominalizer 〜の requires everything before it to be in adnominal form (usually…
Darius Jahandarie
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What conjugation of 願う is 願わくば, and what does it mean here?

This is my first post here, I'm sorry if I didn't follow any formatting or posting rules. Original sentence, from a character's monologue: 願わくばこの時間が少しでも長く続くことを。。。 The English translation I have (not mine or official) is I wish this moment could…
chesnutcase
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Meaning of「残るは」in a sentence

Came across this sentence in a memoir and I have a grammar question about it. For context, a person is thinking about someone sleeping nearby: さっき声をかけてきたヤツは当分寝ないだろ。残るは寝ているか寝ていないかわからない隣の隣。 Regarding 「残るは」, is this a set phrase or expression? It's…
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Role of の in そんなの

Naruto found out that another character had been given a tempting offer and Naruto said: そんなの答えはNOだってばよ What is の doing here, grammatically? is it nominalization? I think I've heard stuff before like 今のだれ? and I've been interpreting it as the…
Axe
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Difference between しては and nominalizer のは

Last time I wanted to say "Disturbing someone is bad", so I directly wrote: 誰かを邪魔するの悪いよ But I just came across another way of saying it : 誰かを邪魔しては悪いよ It bothers me a lot not to know the nuance between those two, because it's not the first time…
Tchang
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Why is 住んでいるのが好きです incorrect?

住んでいるのが好きです is a fragment of a sentence that is incorrectly constructed - the correct way to say "I like living in [place] would be 住むのが好きです. But why is this? In the present tense, the usual way to say "I live in [place]" is to use the…
theycallmezeal
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Use of Adjective + のも

さらに冬になれば雪が積もって交通の便が悪いし、暮らすにはいささか苦労が多いのも難点だ I'm familiar with Vのは → Vのも for multiple nominalized items, but this use of it has me stumped. "Because of the transportation issues after the snow piles up, the slight hardships: (consists of) many…
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