Adjective or Adverb

[Angel Valis]

I was just curious, I know that adjectives affect nouns and that adverbs affect verbs. However, I'm kinda curious as to how the meaning changes using each.

If I have the sentences:

おもしろい映画を見ました。
この映画をおもしろくみました。

How are the meanings different?

Is it sort of like:

おもしろい映画を見ました。
I saw an interesting movie.
(The movie itself is interesting)

この映画をおもしろく見ました。
Watching that movie was interesting.
(The movie may or may not have been interesting, but the experience of watching it was interesting...maybe the projector went haywire and started doing weird things)

Is that right? I was driving down the road and the question started bothering me lol. But at the same time it seems like such a silly question.

 

[Glenn]

I think you've pretty much got it right, although I feel like おもしろく見る would be more like watching it with great interest, as it seems more volitional than just having something happen. That is, it feels like you would have to be making an effort to watch it with interest rather than some things happening around you that make it interesting. That's because of the properties of 見る/観る in this instance, though, and has nothing to to with おもしろい. Also, I'm not so sure that things going haywire would be considered おもしろい, but it could perhaps be considered おもしろくない. See おもしろい.

[Edit] It could also mean watching it and having fun doing so, per the first definition.

Also, I often have these sorts of "stupid questions" pop up when I'm doing totally unrelated things like driving that will bother me for a while. I don't believe they're actually stupid, though.

 

[undrentide]

おもしろい映画を見ました。
I saw an interesting movie.
(The movie itself is interesting)

おもしろい is adjective and modifies the noun 映画.
"interesting movie"

この映画をおもしろく見ました。
Watching that movie was interesting.
(The movie may or may not have been interesting, but the experience of watching it was interesting...maybe the projector went haywire and started doing weird things)

おもしろく is adverb and modifies the verb 見た.
In this particular context おもしろく見た is similar to おもしろく思った.
"I enjoyed this movie".
It could be either you found the film enjoyable or you watched the film which makes the whole thing interesting/entertaining regardless the film was interesting or boring.
Maybe it is clearer if I translate おもしろく見た more literally, "watched it in a way one think interesting/fun"?

 

[Angel Valis]

Ha ha Perhaps I was thinking of it more in a abstract sense of being interesting. Like interesting in a weird way.

[EDIT:] I feel like I replied too soon lol.

 

[Elizabeth]

Ha ha Perhaps I was thinking of it more in a abstract sense of being interesting. Like interesting in a weird way.

[EDIT:] I feel like I replied too soon lol.

Kind of like eating in a delicious way is Oishiku taberu. Or the so-called difference between hageshii ame and hageshiku ame ga futte iru.

 

[AJBryant]

Yeah, but that still all comes down to the basic distinction between an adjective and an adverb. One describes how something *IS*, and the other describes how something is *DONE*.

 

[masaegu]

おもしろく is adverb and modifies the verb 見た.

Incorrect and seriously misleading.

おもしろく is an adjective in Japanese.

このサイトの常連日本人の皆さんは、明らかに英文法的 な文法説明に迎合する傾向がありますね。気付いておら れますか。「おもしろく」が形容詞である事は中学生で も知っています。

 

[Glenn]

確かに、「おもしろく」はただ副詞の働きをする形容詞 に過ぎませんね。「おもしろい」という形容詞の活用の 一部として扱われ、どんな働きをしていても形容詞のま まです。ですが、英語を母語とする人にとっては副詞と 呼ぶのが一番わかりやすい解説でしょう。私も今まで副 詞として考えてきました。そしてそれは日本語の文章の 理解の障害になったことは一つもありませんでした。で すから副詞と呼んでも損はないでしょう。かえって、日 本語を勉強している、英語を母語とする人に対して「『 おもしろく』は副詞じゃない」というようなことを言う と混乱を招くだけかもしれません。そう考えれば「seriously misleading」という言い方は大袈裟なのではありませんか。

とはいっても、もっと早くこの事実を知ったらな～と今 思われてならなくなっています。私はそういう性格なん ですから。

 

[undrentide]

I said "adverb" not 副詞.
The concept adverb and 副詞 is different and as Glenn san said, it is easier to understand.