“-node,” is a conjunctive particle to express a cause/reason about what is written in the main clause in the following format.
– [Clause of a cause/reason] + node, [Main Clause].
When it comes to the relationship between subordinate clause and main clause, “-node,” is one of conjunctive particles for the direct connection. Suppose that you have read the subordinate clause, and then you read the main clause. If what is written in the main clause is a predictable and/or an expected one from the subordinate clause, the connection between the two clauses is “direct (sequence) connection”.
In the last post, we learned how to use “-node,”. But those were sentences that had verb predicates in the subordinate clause only (Verb+node,). We are learning today sentences whose subordinate clauses have an I-adjective, a Na-adjective, or a Noun predicate.
– [I-adj]+node, / [Na-adj] + node, / [Noun]+na node,
1. Atama ga Itai node, Kaettemo Ii desuka.
(I have a headache, so may I go home?)
“Itai” is an I-adjective. An I-adjective conjugates like; Itai, Itakatta, Itakunai, Itakereba. But to continue to “-node,” it’s just “Itai”.
2. Ashita no Tenki ga Shimpaina node, Tenkiyohou o Nando mo Mimasu.
(Since I worry about tomorrow’s weather, I frequently check the forecast.)
“Shimpai” is a Na-adjective. Na-adjectives also conjugate, but to continue to “-node”, they also take a form to continue to a noun that is “[Na-adj]+na”.
3. Ashita wa Kimatsu-shiken na node, Komban Benkyou shinakereba narimasen.
(I take the final examinations tomorrow, so I need to study tonight.)
“Kimatsu-shiken” is a noun that means the final exams. I wrote in the last post about “-node” that the connection of the subordinate clause and “-node,” is;
[Short ending style] + node,
But, like this sentence 3, when the predicate of the subordinate clause is a noun, an exception happens.
<Wrong> Kimatsu-shiken da node, — [Short ending style] + node,
<Right> Kimatsu-shiken na node, — This looks similar to “[Na-adj] + na + node,”.
In addition, there are two issues; one is a comparison between “-kara,” and “-node,”. The other is a kind of broad issue about connection between subordinate clauses and conjunctive particles in terms of style.
(1) Comparison between “-kara,” and “-node,”.
Both “-kara,” and “-node,” are conjunctive particles whose function is to express cause/reason of what is written in the main clause. Then a question is what is the difference between the two.
1. Atama ga Itai node, Kaettemo Ii desuka.
(I have a headache, so may I go home?)
4. Atama ga Itai kara, Kaettemo Ii desuka.
If you have got a headache while in the class, and want to say to a Japanese teacher you would like to leave, I recommend you saying 1 not 4. Sometimes “-kara,” and “-node,” are explained as “-kara,” is subjective. while “-node,” is objective. The sentence 4 sounds like the speaker takes it for granted as to leaving the class room because of his/her personal matter.
(2) Speech style just in front of conjunctive particle.
We learned the conjunctive particle “-kara,” for cause/reason at the exercise A5 in the section 9, the example was like below. At that time, “short ending style” for a sentence ending had not been introduced yet. Therefore, an example sentence would have been like the one below;
5. Atama ga Itai desu kara, Ie ni Kaeri masu. (Because my head is aching, I am going home.)
Forget about “-kara,” is subjective, while “-node,” is objective. Anyway, if we use “-node,” we get;
6. Atama ga Itai node, Ie ni Kaeri masu. (ditto)
Putting aside of difference of kara and node, is there any difference between the sentences 5 and 6? Look at just in front of the conjunctive particles.
5’. Atama ga <Itai desu> kara, Ie ni Kaeri masu. — “Desu/masu Style”
6’. Atama ga <Itai> node, Ie ni Kaeri masu. — “Da/Dearu Style”
The difference is the style of I-adjective predicates in front of conjunctive particles. Again, when “kara” was introduced, the short ending style (Da/Dearu) had not been introduced. Now the leaners know what the short ending style is like, the followings are also possible.
5’’. Atama ga <Itai> kara, Ie ni Kaeri masu. — “Da/Dearu Style”
Or, it is also okay to use the polite ending style (Desu/Masu) for “node”.
6’’. Atama ga <Itai desu> node, Ie ni Kaeri masu. — “Desu/Masu Style”
At a glance of 5’ through to 6’’, you may think there is a freedom with speech style as to in front of conjunctive particles. But my recommendation is to use the short ending style in front of conjunctive particles for most of the cases.
When you speak Japanese to someone, all the sentence ending must be the polite ending style (Desu/Masu) unless you are talking to verry close friends or to people subordinate to you. Sometimes the polite ending style needs to be used even in the middle of a sentence. For example, in the case of the conjunctive particle “-ga,” it is better to use the polite ending style in front of “-ga,” to make it consistent to the sentence ending as shown below;
7. Shigoto wa Isogashii <desu> ga, Tanoshii desu.
(My Job is busy but enjoyable.)
In the case of “-kara”, both the short and polite ending styles are okay, but it is slightly better to use the polite one;
8. Nihongo ga Yome<masen>kara, Shimbun o Kaimasen.
(Since I cannot read Japanese, I don’t buy newspapers.)
But it is better to use the short ending style in front of conjunctive particles in most of the cases.
9. Ashita wa Hareru node, Yama ni Iki masu. (Since the weather will be fine tomorrow, I am going to a mountain.)
9 is better than “Ashita wa Haremasu node” in terms of conciseness.
10. Ame ga Futta ra, Dekake masen. (If it rains, I won’t go out.)
10 is better than “Ame ga Furimashita ra,” to avoid excessive politeness.
Not only {[short ending style]+[conjunctive particle]}, there are some patterns of connections to conjunctive particles, for example;
[Masu-form eliminating “masu”]+[conjunctive particle]
11. Rajio o Tsuke+nagara, Benkyou shimasu. (I study with a radio turning on.)
Mastering many conjunctive particles is an important part of Japanese learning.
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This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section39 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
