Lesson 5. Grammar Item #2 (p. 102)

Robert likes fish.

(= Talking about Robert, he likes fish.)

(= Talking about fish, Robert likes them.)

· すきなひと ‘the person that (he/she) likes (Noun Phrase)’ or ‘the person that likes (him/her) (Noun Phrase)’

· (He) likes (it). à すき です

adjective be [LV]-Polite-Present

· Languages in general do not allow adjectives or adjective plus linking verb to combine with object phrases, as in *Robert is fond fish.[1] You should say Robert is fond of fish.

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A particle phrase in general without its meaning and with its grammatical function that can combine with adjectives or linking verb be plus adjectives are subject phrases, i.e., /ga/-phrases, among subject phrases, object phrases, and /no/ phrases. There is no other way than having two subject phrases in one clause.

à

ロバートさんが　さかなが　すきです。[2]

さかなが　ロバートさんが　すきです。

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N.B. 1) The /no/ phrases in Japanese only modify nouns, and cannot modify either adjective /suki/ or adjective-be /suki-desu/.

N.B. 2) There is a tendency in Japanese that a topic phrase (= a /wa/-phrase) 1) occurs as the subject or object of the major clause or 2) occurs containing a postpositional phrase.[3]

1) ロバートさんは　さかなが　すきです。

2) さかなは　ロバートさんが　すきです。

a) I do not like Mondays.

b) I dislike cold mornings.

c) Robert did not like frightening movies when he was a high school student.

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[1] More and more Japanese people are accepting adjectives to combine with object phrases.

[2] The clauses with two subject phrases occur as the object phrase of the verbs taking clause as its object, e.g., /shitte imasu/ ‘know’.

[3] The second case is found, as in こうえんでは　しゃしんを　とりました ‘Talking about the park, they took pictures in that place’. This is similar in terms of structure to こうえんでも　しゃしんを　とりました ‘They took pictures in the PARK, too’.