Juhn G
Another secret of speaking Japanese more easily
Aki has written a excellent article on a secret of speaking Japanese easily.
This inspired me to write another one. If you have never read it, I recommend you to read it at first.

1. Predicate and gerund
Both the predicate and the gerund is a linguistic concept of grammar and they are common to any language.
Predicate  is a body of sentence, which is composed with a verb and other words excluding its subject.

- He played dance at the hall yesterday. 彼は昨日そのホールでダンスをした。

For example, the subject is 'He' and the predicate is other parts of  this sentence. 'Yesterday' may not belong to the predicate. I don't really know of this concept deeply. Sorry.
And now you can change the predicate to a gerund as its style of grammar.

- Having played dance at the hall そのホールでダンスをした + こと
 
You only have to do with 'こと’ after that In Japanese. It is a very easy rule, isn't it?

Here are other examples of making into a gerund.

I have fun; Having fun 楽しむ + こと
You are tired; Being tired 疲れる + こと
We meet everyday. Meeting everyday 毎日会う + こと 

2. Do gerund first
When you talk, you must have such an old information that you have already shared with people you are talking to. Such an older information can be a gerund easily.

バーに行きたかったけど、この時期、ここは観光客が押し寄せて、どこも店が一杯になるので、夕飯を食べるついでに、ビールを飲むことにした。

This long sentence will be hard to most learners. I will write a doing-gerund-first version of this here.

バーに行きたかった (I start off with what I got in my mind)
ことを思ったけど (I make a gerund and continue this talking)
この時期は、
ここに観光客が一杯来る (I add a new information)
ことが、あったので、(I make another gerund and still talking)
どこも店が一杯になる (I add another information again)
ことを、思ったので、 (I get a gerund)
夕飯を食べる (I say what I wanted to do)
こと、をして、(I did that)
それから (then)
そこで、ビールも飲もうと思った。 (I add another information to the previous gerund)

That's it.
I have to describe the secret of the magic. How do you continue the talk after a gerund?
Get back to here.

どこも店が一杯になる
ことを、思ったので

The anatomy is Gerund + 思った+ので, which is the same with '〜と思った' and '~なので(だから)'.
This comes from 2 rules.
1) You can create a sentence with gerund that a verb follows the gerund phrase.
2) You can add a conjunction to the sentence to extend.

For another sample, get here.

夕飯を食べる (I say what I wanted to do)
こと、をして、(I did that)

The anatomy is 夕飯を食べること (gerund) + をする(した)+ そして(conjunction).

3. Discussion
Is this really easier than an ordinary style of speaking or writing? I have to say it can be either, it may be or it may not.
Shorter sentences will be easier without this method. But how about when phrases are tangled up and you have many things to say? Many words may come into your mind, but each word gets left apart and you are at a loss  what you will start off from? Do gerund first in that case and do continue to put the following till the last.
As this background, the Japanese don't care about the subject so much. I don't know well what that is from, but there is no doubt particles, such as は・が,  actually play more significant roles in Japanese than the subject. The subject, even if it is not mentioned, is usually explained by the particles or the polite form at the end of sentence. I also expect this 'gerunding' activity to improve your skill for making a sentence with the proper particles. 

For the last example of gerund, I share a funny  one, which describes the peculiarity of Japanese gerund.

B: 明日、〇〇に、行くよね。
A: ん〜、行かないことはない、ことはないこともないことはない。
B: どっちなの! 結局、行かないの?
A:行きたくない。

Is that fun?

May 12, 2018 12:12 AM