Pelajaran #132 :
*Ungkapan *na no* atau *na n da*
                     * no *      atau * n da *

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The 「の」 particle as explanation

Vocabulary

今 【いま】 - now
忙しい 【いそが・しい】 (i-adj) - busy
学生 【がく・せい】 - student
飲む 【のむ】 - to drink
どこ - where
行く 【い・く】 (u-verb) - to go
授業 【じゅ・ぎょう】 - class
ある (u-verb) - to exist (inanimate)
ううん - casual word for "no" (nah, uh-uh)
その - that （abbr. of それの）
人 【ひと】 - person
買う 【か・う】 (u-verb) - to buy
先生 【せん・せい】 - teacher
朝ご飯 【あさ・ご・はん】 - breakfast
食べる 【た・べる】 (ru-verb) - to eat
どうして - why

The 「の」 particle attached at the end of the last clause of a sentence can also convey an explanatory tone to your sentence. For example, if someone asked you if you have time, you might respond, "The thing is I'm kind of busy right now." The abstract generic noun of "the thing is..." can also be expressed with the 「の」 particle. This type of sentence has an embedded meaning that explains the reason(s) for something else.

The sentence would be expressed like so:

今は忙しいの。
Ima wa isogashii no.
Sekarang Saya sibuk ?

The thing is that (I'm) busy now.
This sounds very soft and feminine. In fact, adult males will almost always add a declarative 「だ」 unless they want to sound cute for some reason.

今は忙しいのだ。
Ima isogashii no da.
Sekarang sibuk ya ?

The thing is that (I'm) busy now.
However, since the declarative 「だ」 cannot be used in a question, the same 「の」 in questions do not carry a feminine tone at all and is used by both males and females.

今は忙しいの？
Ima isogashii no ?

Is it that (you) are busy now? (gender-neutral)
To express state-of-being, when the 「の」 particle is used to convey this explanatory tone, we need to add 「な」 to distinguish it from the 「の」 particle that simply means "of".

ジムのだ。
It is of Jim. (It is Jim's.)
ジムなのだ。
It is Jim (with explanatory tone).
Besides this one case, everything else remains the same as before.

In actuality, while this type of explanatory tone is used all the time, 「のだ」 is usually substituted by 「んだ」. This is probably due to the fact that 「んだ」 is easier to say than 「のだ」. This grammar can have what seems like many different meanings because not only can it be used with all forms of adjectives, nouns, and verbs it itself can also be conjugated just like the state-of-being. A conjugation chart will show you what this means.

There's really nothing new here. The first chart is just adding 「んだ」 (or 「なんだ」) to a conjugated verb, noun, or adjective. The second chart adds 「んだ」 (or 「なんだ」) to a non-conjugated verb, noun, adjective and then conjugates the 「だ」 part of 「んだ」 just like a regular state-of-being for nouns and na-adjectives. Just don't forget to attach the 「な」 for nouns as well as na-adjectives.

「んだ」 attached to different conjugations (Substitute 「の」 or 「のだ」 for 「んだ」)
Noun/Na-Adj Verb/I-Adj
Plain 学生なんだ 飲むんだ
Negative 学生じゃないんだ 飲まないんだ
Past 学生だったんだ 飲んだんだ
Past-Neg 学生じゃなかったんだ 飲まなかったんだ
「んだ」 is conjugated (Substitute 「の」 for 「ん」 and 「の」 or 「のだ」 for 「んだ」)
Noun/Na-Adj Verb/I-Adj
Plain 学生なんだ 飲むんだ
Negative 学生なんじゃない 飲むんじゃない
Past 学生なんだった 飲むんだった
Past-Neg 学生なんじゃなかった 飲むんじゃなかった

I would say that the past and past-negative forms for noun/na-adjective in the second chart are almost never used (especially with 「の」) but they are presented for completeness.

Example 1

アリス：どこに行くの？
Alice : Doko no iku no ?
Alice: Where is it that (you) are going?

ボブ：授業に行くんだ。
Bob : Juu gyou ni iku n da.
Bob: It is that (I) go to class.

Alice: Where are you going? (Seeking explanation)
Bob: I'm going to class. (Explanatory)

Example 2

アリス：今、授業があるんじゃない？
Alice : ima, Juu gyou ga aru n jya nai ?
Alice: Isn't it that there is class now?

ボブ：今は、ないんだ。
Bob : Ima wa, nai n da.
Bob: Now it is that there is no class.

Alice: Don't you have class now? (Expecting that there is class)
Bob: No, there is no class now. (Explanatory)

Example 3

アリス：今、授業がないんじゃない？
Alice: Isn't it that there isn't class now?

ボブ：ううん、ある。
Bob: No, there is.

Alice: Don't you not have class now? (Expecting that there is no class)
Bob: No, I do have class.

Example 4

アリス：その人が買うんじゃなかったの？
Alice: Wasn't it that that person was the one to buy?

ボブ：ううん、先生が買うんだ。
Bob: No, it is that teacher is the one to buy.

Alice: Wasn't that person going to buy? (Expecting that the person would buy)
Bob: No, the teacher is going to. (Explanatory)

Example 5

アリス：朝ご飯を食べるんじゃなかった。
Alice: It is that breakfast wasn't to eat.

ボブ：どうして？
Bob: Why?

Alice: Should not have eaten breakfast, you know. (Explaining that breakfast wasn't to be eaten)
Bob: How come?

Ganbatte be Minasan !!!