Making Sense of Japanese Grammar

65. There are ways to identify hidden subjects

65 There are ways to identify hidden subjects As you probably know from your own experience, English speakers often find it difficult to identify the subject of a Japanese sentence. This is not only because a Japanese sentence may lack an explicit subject but also because Japanese verbs are insensitive to such distinctions as person and number, which can be helpful in English in identifying the subject. Japanese verbs do, however, provide different types of information about the identity of the subject. Personal Expressions Verbs of desire, feelings, sensations, and thought constrain the range of possible subjects in a systematic way. When they appear in their bare forms in a descriptive context, their subject is generally “I,” as shown below. This is because direct expressions of such personal properties are considered the privilege of those who actually experience them: Tabetai. “I want to eat.” Kanashikatta. “I felt sad.” Nemui. “I am sleepy.” Soo omou. “I think so.” The only other person who can become the subject of these verbs is the second person, “you,” in questions: Tabetai? “Do you want to eat?” Kanashikatta? 170 “Did you feel sad?” Nemui-desu-ka. “Are you sleepy?” Soo omoimasen-ka. “Don’t you think so?” For a third person, these verbs require special devices which make the expressions indirect: Ano ko-wa tabeta-gatte-iru. “The child (acts like he) wants to eat.” Ano ko-wa tabetai yoo-da. “The child looks like he wants to eat.” Ano ko-wa tabetai-to itte-iru. “The child is saying that he wants to eat.” Saitoo-san-mo soo omotte-iru. “Ms. Saito is also thinking that way.” = “Ms. Saito also thinks so.” Saitoo-san-mo soo omou-to itte-iru. “Ms. Saito also says that she thinks so.” This means that when the subjects of such constructions are hidden, as in the following, we can recover them fairly accurately: Tabeta-gatte-imasu-yo. “She/he wants to eat.” Tabetai-to itte-iru. “She/he is saying that she/he wants to eat.” Soo omou-to itte-iru. 171 “She/he says that she/he thinks so.” Verbs of Giving and Honorific Expressions The second type of cue for identifying the subject is directional verbs such as ageru “to give (out-bound),” kureru “to give (in-bound),” morau “to receive,” and their auxiliary counterparts. The subject of ageru and morau must be either the speaker or someone close to the speaker. Purezento-o ageta. “I gave him/her a present.” Purezento-o katte-ageta. “I bought him/her a present.” Purezento-o moratta. “I received a present.” Purezento-o katte-moratta. “I had him/her buy me a present.” The subject of kureru cannot be the speaker. Purezento-o kureta. “He/she gave me a present.” Purezento-o katte-kureta. “He/she bought me a present.” Honorific expressions are also helpful cues for identifying the subject because they point to someone respected: Purezento-o okai-ni natta. “He/she (someone respected) bought a present.” Contextual Cues When verbs do not give away the identity of the subject, the alternative is to look for a clue in the context. The hidden subject of a declarative sentence is 172 usually identical to the subject of the previous sentence: Amamiya-san-wa gekai-da. Aomori-no byooin-ni tsutomete-iru. “Ms. Amamiya is a surgeon. She is working at a hospital in Aomori.” If the declarative sentence is the first sentence and there is no explicit subject, the subject is usually “I.” Tabemashita. “I ate.” If the sentence is a question, an invitation, or a suggestion, as in the following, the hidden subject is usually “you”: Tabemashita-ka. “Did you eat?” Tabemasen-ka. “Won’t you eat?” Tabetara, doo-desu-ka. “How about if you eat?” Another type of contextual clue is the subject of the main clause. When the subordinate clause lacks an explicit subject, it is usually the same as the subject of the main clause: Rii-san-wa nihon-ni iku-mae-ni Nihon-go-o benkyoo-shita. “Mr. Lee studied Japanese before he went to Japan.” Checking your comprehension: What could be the subject that corresponds to the verb in boldface below? Naka-ni hairitai. Naka-ni haittara doo-desu-ka. 173 Naka-ni hairita-gatte-imasu-yo. Naka-ni haitta soo-da. Naka-ni ohairi-ni narimashita. 174 For...