I have been playing with the basic grammar structures, and I have noticed that adjectives are tricky.
Before, I showed in a previous post how one simple structure could be used for an infinite number of possible utterances.
わたしはせんせいです。
私は先生です。
Name + noun + desu.
I am a teacher.
So, my question was, could I use this structure more? Like when we write in English:
*? Name + adjective + desu.
That * has a special meaning in linguistics...It means it is ungrammatical. Let's look at some translations:
1) I am happy. 私は幸せです。 (watashiwa shaiwase desu.)
2) I am sad. 私は悲しい。 (watashiwa kanashii)
3) I am bored. 私は退屈だ。 (watashiwa taikutsuda)
4) I am cold. 私は寒いです。 (watashiwa samui desu)
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So, it is clear that a similar structure is possible as we see in examples #1 and #4. (Confirmed by my wonderful Japanese professor.) Interestingly, not all translations use "desu". When inquiring about why, it appears that these translations are more informal. Logically, this makes sense because these are negative emotions--moments when formality may be pushed aside to make one's point. The "desu" structure is possible, but not used by Google translate because of pragmatic and semantic issues.
Thus here is a new structure that you can play with! Let me know how you feel in the comments below. Please email me at mcalister.thom@gmail.com if the comments are not working. (I may need to troubleshoot the comments section. Please let me know.)
さよなら！
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