We are going to learn the following sentence constructions in the exercise A2 of the section 42 in Miina no Nihongo. In order to avoid copyright issues, the following sentences are not the same as the sentences in Minna no Nihongo (as usual).
1. Kono Pasokon wa Inta’anetto o Miru no ni Tsukai masu.
(This is the personal computer that I use to browse the internet.)
2. Kono Pasokon wa Shigoto ni Tsukai masu.
(This is the personal computer that I use for work.)
3. Kono Pasokon wa Ge’emu o Suru no ni Ii desu.
(This personal computer is good for playing games.)
4. Kono Pasokon wa Shucchou ni Ii desu.
(This personal computer is good for business trips.)
We need to think a lot of things about these sentences. Therefore, the explanation of A2S42 is divided in two for today and tomorrow as shown below;
(1) Expressing a Purpose using Combination of nominalizer “no” and particle “ni”
(2) Explanation exclusively about the four sentences above, focusing on differences between verb predicates and adjective predicate.
This post is about (1), therefore mainly explains the sentence 1 and 3 that have the following structure;
– [V-dic] + no + ni [Predicate].
Note that today’s “no+ni” is different from the conjunctive particle “-noni,” which will be explained at the exercise A2 of the section 45. The conjunctive particle “-noni” is used in the following construction;
[Subordinate Clause]+noni, [Main Clause].
In this sentence, the main clause expresses an unexpected thing which is contrary to the content of the subordinate clause. Today’s “no + ni” doesn’t bring up contrast. “[V-dic] + no + ni” expresses the purpose of the predicate. In the sentence 1, “Inta’anetto o Miru (to browse the interenet)” is the purpose of the predicate “Tsukai masu (use)”. And it is important that using a personal computer is neither “unexpected” nor “contrary” with browsing the internet. So, we can conclude that today’s “no+ni” is a different kind from the conjunctive particle “-noni,”.
The nominalizer “-no” had been explained in the posts about the section 38. In very fundamental perspective, a Japanese sentence consists of components of
{ [word for meaning] + [word for function]}.
When a noun is used for a component, it becomes {[Noun]+[particle]}
When a verb is used for a component, it becomes {[Verb]+[auxiliary verb]}
And most of the time, it cannot be (WRONG){[Verb]+[particle]}. When you want to say something like {[Verb]+[particle]}, you need to make it {[Verb + nominalizer] + [particle]} because [Verb + nominalizer] is a kind of “noun-equivalent”. Other than the nominalizer “no”, some formal nouns can be used for making a verb a noun-equivalent. It is an interesting issue whether or not the nominalizer “no” is interchangeable with a formal noun “koto”.
1’. Kono Pasokon wa Inta’anetto o Miru koto ni Tsukai masu.
I can’t say this is wrong, but I feel “Miru no ni Tsukai masu” is better. Examining a sentence by replacing the nominalizer “no” to another noun can be a good practice.
1’’. Kono Pasokon wa Inta’anetto o Miru toki ni Tsukai masu.
(This personal computer is used when I browse the internet.)
Now the sentence1’’ is a good one.
1’’’. Kono Pasokon wa Inta’anetto o Miru tame ni Tsukai masu.
“tame” is introduced in A1, and this 1’’’ is also okay.
There are a lot of functions on the particle “ni”. What is the function of “ni” when it is used in the form of “[V-dic] + no + ni [Predicate]”? It is the purpose of the action.
5. Kaimono ni Ikimasu. (I am going shopping.)
“Kaimono(shopping)” is the purpose of the action “Ikimasu(am going)”
We are learning today how to use “no+ni” which is the combination of nominalizer “no” and particle “ni”. If the purpose can be described by a noun like the sentence 5, the nominalizer “no” is not necessary.
Some examples are shown below;
<1> [V-dic] + no + ni [Verb Predicate].
Kono Fukuro wa Gomi o Suteru no ni Tsukai masu.
(This bag is used for disposing trashes.)
<2> [Noun] + ni [Verb Predicate].
Kono Naifu wa Ryouri ni Tsukaimasu.
(This knife is used for cooking.)
<3> [V-dic] + no + ni [Adjective Predicate].
Kono Basu wa Machi ni Dekakeru no ni Benri desu.
(This bus is convenient for going to the town.)
“Benri(na)” is a Na-adjective.
<4> [Noun] + ni [Adjective Predicate].
Kono Denshi-jisho wa Nihongo no Benkyou ni Ii desu.
(This electric dictionary is good for studying Japanese.)
“Ii” is an I-adjective.
This post focuses on mainly “[V-dic] +no+ni”, and also introduces “[Noun]+ni”. In addition to an explanation about “no+ni”, I think there should be an explanation about difference coming from the predicates. The sentence 1 and 2 have verb predicates, while the sentence 3 and 4 have adjective predicates. It will be dealt with in tomorrow’s post.
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This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 of Section42 in “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
