Attaching words with な/の, how to choose the right particle?

Japanese
#1

Many different grammar points have you attach words to nouns or な-adjectives using the particles な or の, or they attach directly without a particle. But it’s not always the same!

For example:
な for な-adjectives, の for nouns | の間に
な for な-adjectives, の or no particle for nouns | ごろ
な for both | の

Can someone please explain what grammar rules are involved here, or point me to a resource discussing it? Thanks!

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#2

Im not sure I 100% understand the question so sorry if this doesnt hit the mark, but there are generally four major rules I can think of of the top of my head:

  1. な adjectives (Nouns defining some quality) need to be followed by a な if you want them to modify a Noun. This is always the case.
  2. Nouns need to be followed by a の if you want them to modify a Noun.

These rules fall under the first example you listed.

  1. If the Noun is followed by a suffix or an adverb, functions adverbially in itself, or is part of any larger set compound, the の is often omitted.

This is the second example you listed; ごろ is often seen as an adverbial marker acting as a suffix. “Adverbial” similarly how the english word “about/around” functions adverbially.

  1. There is also the connective form of だ which is な and is seen in phrases like “なの(Particle or Copula)”.

This is the last example you listed.

なの(Particle):
僕のは猫だ (What is mine is the cat (Implying the cat belongs to me))
僕なのは猫だ (What is me is a cat (Implying I am literally of the quality “cat”, hence “な” is used)

なの(Copula) is most commonly なのです/なのだ and is used to emphasize a sentence:
僕は猫だ (I am a cat) (No emphasis)
僕は猫なのだ (It is that I am a cat) (emphasis on the fact)

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#3

な, in this context, comes from the much older に ある. It had a similar role to the copula だ, meaning something has the quality preceding it.

So, we often see な preserved in grammatical structures that require a complete sentence.

For example, from the page you linked:
あなたは学生なの？

What this actually says is something close to:

You, as for, student you-are ?

な is the ‘you-are’, with の as the question mark for the soft, explanation seeking question indicator.

Now, we always need な for な-adjectives when connecting them to other nouns, but when you look at the origins of な it makes sense, because it’s a contraction of a verb phrase, and we use verbs to modify nouns all the time.

Hope that helps!

1 Like
#4

Thank you both!