の (Nominalizer) Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Nominalizer
Essential Meaning: That / The fact that / Doing X / That X / ~ing
Construction:
- (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + の
- E.g. 話すの [That X speaks]
- E.g. 高いの [That X is expensive]
- (な-Adjective stem / Noun) + [な / だった] + の
- E.g. 静かなの [That X is quiet]
- E.g. 先生なの [That X is a teacher]
Notes:
- の (Nominalizer) essentially converts an entire sentence into a noun phrase that can be used grammatically any way that a noun can be used. This works similarly to nominalizers in English such as infinitive and gerund verbs.
- E.g. Nominalized sentence as a subject: 日本語を教えるのは難しい。[Teaching Japanese is difficult.] In this example, “Teaching Japanese” is the subject and “is difficult” is the predicate.
- E.g. Nominalized sentence as a direct object: 私はクリスがビールを飲むのを見た。[I saw that Chris was drinking beer.] In this case, “that Chris was drinking beer” is the direct object of the verb “saw“.
- One restriction to note is that の (Nominalizer) can not appear in position B in the structure A は B だ in order to avoid ambiguity with the expression のだ. Instead, the nominalizer こと should be used in such cases.
- E.g. *困ったのはかれが来られないのだ。 [The trouble is that he can’t come.] In this example, it’s ambiguous whether のだ is an example of the expression のだ or an example of の (Nominalizer) + だ. This is unacceptable.
- E.g. 困ったのはかれが来られないことだ。 [The trouble is that he can’t come.] There is no ambiguity in this example.
- Nominalized sentences are subordinate clauses, so they cannot take the は particle. Generally speaking, the subject of subordinate clause is marked by が.
- E.g. *僕は小林さんはピアノを弾いているのを聞いた。[I listened to Kobayashi-san playing the piano.] The は particle cannot be used to mark the subject of a subordinate clause. Therefore, this sentence is ungrammatical.
- E.g. 僕は小林さんがピアノを弾いているのを聞いた。[I listened to Kobayashi-san playing the piano.]
- The nominalizers の and こと are sometimes interchangeable. However, the general difference between の (Nominalizer) and こと is that の (Nominalizer) is used when the preceding sentence describes something concrete or perceptible, and こと is used when the sentence describes something abstract and imperceptible.
- E.g. 日本へ行くこと/ の は簡単です。[Going to Japan is easy.] の (Nominalizer) and こと are interchangeable in this example.
- E.g. クラークさんがフランスへ行くの /ことを知っていますか。[Do you know that Mr. Clark is going to France?] の (Nominalizer) and こと are interchangeable in this example.
- E.g. 私は自分の体がふるえているのを感じた。[I felt my body trembling.] This example takes の (Nominalizer) because trembling is clearly a directly perceptible event.
- In addition to ordinary uses, certain idiomatic phrases take the こと nominalizer:
- The following verbs take の (Nominalizer). They tend to be verbs of perception or concrete action.
- E.g. 見る [To see]
- E.g. 見える [To be visible]
- E.g. 聞く [To hear]
- E.g. 聞こえる [To be audible]
- E.g. 感じる [To feel]
- E.g. 止める [To stop]
- E.g. 待つ [To wait]
- E.g. 見つける [To discover]
- E.g. 防ぐ [To ward off]
- The following verbs take the nominalizer こと. They tend to be abstract or conceptual verbs.
- E.g. 期待する [To expect]
- E.g. 信じる [To believe]
- E.g. すすめる [To advise]
- E.g. 考える [To think]
- E.g. 頼む [To ask]
- E.g. 命じる [To order]
- E.g. による [Be due to]
- The following verbs can take either こと OR の (Nominalizer). They tend to be ordinary verbs that are neither directly related to perception nor totally abstract and intangible.
- E.g. 知る [To know]
- E.g. 忘れる [To forget]
- E.g. 気がつく [To notice]
- E.g. 思い出す [To recall]
- E.g. 覚える [To remember]
- E.g. 認める [To admit]
- E.g. 避ける[To avoid]
- E.g. やめる [To quit]
- E.g. 後悔する [To regret]
- E.g. 分かる [To understand]
- E.g. 好きだ [To like]
- E.g. 嫌いだ [To dislike]
- E.g. 怖いだ [Scary]
- E.g. うれしい [Happy]
- E.g. 悲しい [Sad]
- E.g. やさしい [Easy]
- E.g. 難しい [Difficult]
Example Sentences:
日本語を教えるのは難しい。[Teaching Japanese is difficult.]
私は雪子さんがビールを飲むのを見た。[I saw Yukiko drink beer.]
日本へ行くのは簡単です。[Going to Japan is easy.]
私は小林さんがピアノを弾いているのを聞いた。[I listened to Kobayashi-san playing the piano.]
クラークさんがフランスへ行くのを知っていますか。[Do you know that Mr. Clark is going to France?]
WILD Examples:
***YouTube videos may be region-locked depending on your country of origin. If you experience issues, please try using a VPN set to a United States IP address.***