--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "randhir_nag"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Very eficient and to the point answer.arigatou gozaimasu.
> However there are some usages which are new to me
> 1.daibun no shukudai - in which capacity is 'no' being used here.How
> would grammatically sumarize this usage of 'no'?>
"No" is usually a genitive particle and it is used in a variety of
ways, many of which have no exact equivalent in English.
Suzuki-san no shachoo = "Mr. Suzuki, the company boss"
Sensei no kuruma = "the teacher's car"
Bokura no tsukutta tabemono = "The food we prepared"
Watashi no kaita anata e no tegami = "The letter I wrote to you"
Ame ga furu no wo misete = "Show me where it's raining"
In this case, it serves as a modifying auxiliary. The meaning
of "daibun no shukudai" is "a lot of homework" ["handful" + gen. part.
+ "homework" = "a handful of homework"].
> 2.eigo o oshiemasu kara(node) - dont both of them refer to becasue?>
"Kara" is used at the end of a sentence to mean "because". Usually
applied to afterthough sentences when used in this fashion. When used
in the middle of a sentence, it means "after". For example, "Sakana-ya
e haitta kara, ikutsuka no tai wo nusumimashita" = "After he entered
the fish market, he stole a few bream."
Japanese is left-branching, so when you see anything functioning as a
modifier, it will always come right before the modified term.
> 3.koto ga dekimasen - does this mean that dekimasen should never be
> used in isolation?>
Usually not. "Dekiru" means "to be able to do something" and it's
usually applied when referring to the potential of a person or thing to
execute a task. Even so, there are instances when "dekiru" is used in
one for or another by itself. For example, "dekikanemasu" is a formal
term meaning "it cannot be done". It sounds rather cold, so exercise
caution when using it.
> 4.Kono hon wo yomu koto wa - 'no wa' can also be used here?>
"No" means "the one" in this sentence. So "no" is being used as a noun
and thus takes "wa" as topical particle. ["this" + "book" + dir. obj.
part. + "read" + "abstract thing" + topic part. = Regarding the reading
of this book,...]
I would advise you not to compare grammar between English and Japanese.
They are very different in their function as well as their appearance.
Usually looking at how a word functions in the grammar of the target
language helps greatly in arriving at more accurate translations. Thus
I tend to consider myself a "structuralist" of sorts.
- Arian I.
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