What's new

ガーゴイル像に命が吹き込まれ / じゃった

eeky

先輩
8 Jun 2010
2,431
22
48
Hi,

1. ガーゴイル像に命が吹き込まれ、脇に飛び退いた。

Somehow I cannot seem to understand the relationship between the parts of ガーゴイル像に命が吹き込まれ. How does this phrase work?

2. 「おう、あなたじゃったか、マクゴナガル先生」

Is じゃった = だった?
 
1)
ガーゴイル像に命が吹き込まれ、ガーゴイル像が脇に飛び退いた。 makes sense?

2)
Yes.
 
Thanks, I think I might have just twigged. に marks the target of 命, not the agent of 吹き込まれ, is that right?
 
Yes, since it's passive.

passive
ガーゴイル像に命が吹き込まれた。
命: subject
ガーゴイル像: target
(The agent is not mentioned.)

active
(誰か/何かが)ガーゴイル像に命を吹き込んだ。
誰か/何か: subject/agent
命: object
ガーゴイル像: target

EDIT:
Ah, I think I got your point. You are talking about the cases that に indicates the agent in a passive sentence, for instance, 泥棒に財布を盗まれた, right? によって is often used to indicate the agent instead of just に in these cases to avoid being confused.
e.g.
ガーゴイル像によって(何かに)命が吹き込まれた。
 
Last edited:
You are talking about the cases that に indicates the agent in a passive sentence, for instance, 泥棒に財布を盗まれた, right?
Yes, that's right. That is what confused me.

By the way, do you think that most Japanese people would know the word ガーゴイル?
 
I think it's not so common. What came to my mind from the word was Notre-Dame de Paris.
 
Back
Top Bottom