Japanese learning (A2 S38): Application of “V+no” to a Ga-word in Wa-ga construction; [Topic] wa [{V-dic} + no ] ga [Adj] desu.

Yesterday we learned to make a verb a noun-equivalent using “no”. What we are learning today is to apply that noun-equivalent to a Wa-ga construction. Actually, there was already a wa-ga construction in which “Verb + no” is applied.

1. Onsen ni Hairu no wa Kimochi ga Ii desu.

(Bathing Onsen makes me feel good.)

As you see in the sentence1, “Verb + no” is applied to “Wa-word”. Let’s review about Wa-ga construction a little. There are several type of Wa-ga constructions, but today, wa-ga constructions whose predicates is I- and Na-adjectives only like below;

2. Watashi wa Ongaku ga Suki desu. (I like music.)

3. Watashi wa Ryouri ga Heta desu. (I am not good at cooking.)

4. Watashi wa Ashi ga Osoi desu. (My legs don’t run fast.)

The above sentences have adjective predicates; Suki(na) and Heta(na) are both Na-adjectives and Osoi is an I-adjective. As these sentences, some or many adjectives tend to be used in wa-ga construction. It is common to explain wa-ga constructions as below;

– [Topic] wa [Subject] ga [Predicate].

But when we look at the sentence 2 to 4 and their English translations of sentences 2 and 3, the sentence looks like;

– [Subject of sentence] wa [Subject of predicate] ga [Predicate].

And “-ga” is to identify and/or specify in conjunction with the predicate. For example, “Ongaku ga” expresses what I like (Suki) in the sentence 1, “Ryouri” expresses what I am not good at (Heta) in the sentence 2, and “Ashi ga” expresses what is slow in the sentence 3.

The review of wa-ga construction ends here, and from here, today’s construction is going to be introduced. “Ga-word”s in the sentence 2 to 4 are all nouns; Ongaku, Ryouri, and Ashi. “-ga” is a particle, which is usually attached to a noun from behind as I explained in the A1. In today’s construction, a noun-equivalent “Verb + no” is inserted to the noun in front of “-ga”.

– [Topic] wa [Subject] ga [Predicate].

=> [Topic] wa [{V-dic} + no ] ga [Predicate].

5. Watashi wa Ongaku o Kiku no ga Suki desu. (I like listening to music.)

6. Watashi wa Ryouri o Tsukuru no ga Heta desu. (I am not good at cooking a meal.)

7. Watashi wa Hashiru no ga Osoi desu. (My running is slow.)

These sentences use only dictionary forms of a verb. If we deal with Nai-form, Ta-form, I-adjective, and/or Na-adjective for what to put in front of “no ga”, things are going to be unnecessarily complicated. Thinking about frequency of use and simplifying the leaning, it would be better to introduce only dictionary form of verbs.

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This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section38 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”