んじゃなかった / です vs. あります / "Verb-て Noun は"

Hello!

1. ログアウトするんじゃなかったよ。

Translation given: "I shouldn't have logged off."

I assume that the "shouldn't have" meaning is idiomatic, but in the right context could this sentence ever mean "I didn't log off" or "It wasn't that I logged off", or similar?


2. 下宿したいのですが...

Translation given: "I'd like to live in a boardinghouse, but ..."

Is 下宿したいのがありますが... grammatical? If not, why not? If so, how does the meaning differ from the above?


3. I've asked about a few specific instances of this, I think, but I'd like to ask a more general question:

As a general rule, is it legitimate to use the construction "Verb-て Noun は" to make "Noun, who/which is doing Verb" into the topic?

1)
～んじゃなかった is also idiomatic.

ーるんじゃなかった = regret? | Japan Forum


2)
の in the first example is an explanatory の, whereas the one in the second sentence is interpreted as a pronoun(= boardinghouse/room).


3)
"Verb1-て Noun は Verb2" is almost the same to "Noun は Verb1-て Verb2". The te-form itself doesn't have a fixed meaning. The meaning is given by the relation of the two clauses. For instance, as you can see in the second example bellow, the te-form can have a nuance of "because".

朝起きて、私は歯を磨いた。（＝ 私は朝起きて歯を磨 いた。/ 朝起きて、そのあと私は歯を磨いた。）
疲れていて、私は寝坊した。（＝ 私は疲れていて寝坊 した。/ 疲れていたので、私は寝坊した。）

Toritoribe said:

～んじゃなかった is also idiomatic.

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Hi Toritoribe. Sorry, I understand that ～んじゃなかった idiomatically has the sense "(I) shouldn't have done ～". What I am not sure about is whether, in the right context, ～んじゃなかった can also mean "It isn't the case that ～ happened", or "～ didn't happen", or similar. Does that make sense?

Toritoribe said:

の in the first example is an explanatory の, whereas the one in the second sentence is interpreted as a pronoun(= boardinghouse/room).

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So the second one would literally mean "There is (i.e. there exists) a boardinghouse/room that I'd like to board in"?

eeky said:

Hi Toritoribe. Sorry, I understand that ～んじゃなかった idiomatically has the sense "(I) shouldn't have done ～". What I am not sure about is whether, in the right context, ～んじゃなかった can also mean "It isn't the case that ～ happened", or "～ didn't happen", or similar. Does that make sense?

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I think if it's a "dictionary" form verb right before "～んじゃなかった" it usually implies "shouldn't have". In a strict sense, ～んじゃなかった by itself is just "の では なかった". With a noun or adjective, it matches your question. But with a plain form verb in front of that, can you think of any other sensible meaning? I can't.

eeky said:

Hi Toritoribe. Sorry, I understand that ～んじゃなかった idiomatically has the sense "(I) shouldn't have done ～". What I am not sure about is whether, in the right context, ～んじゃなかった can also mean "It isn't the case that ～ happened", or "～ didn't happen", or similar. Does that make sense?

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Ah, I see. As for the cases of non-volitional verbs or the doer is not the speaker, yes, it can.

雨が降るんじゃなかった。
It isn't the case that it rained/rains/will rain.

彼が来るんじゃなかった。
It isn't the case that he came/comes/will come.

These examples have a connotation of the speaker's misunderstanding; "I have been misunderstanding that~/I was misundertanding that~".(The both interpretations, "I've realized my misunderstanding now" and "I realized my misunderstanding in past", are possible.)

eeky said:

So the second one would literally mean "There is (i.e. there exists) a boardinghouse/room that I'd like to board in"?

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Right.

Thanks guys.