What is the meaning of ことなん？

seasurfer · 3 Feb 2005

明日のスポーツ大会のことなんですが、雨が降った時はどうしますか。

Can someone kindly explain to me the meaning and usage of ことなん. Thanks in advance.

By the way, what is the meaning of the first が in this sentence?

Carabas · 3 Feb 2005

seasurfer said:
明日のスポーツ大会のことなんですが、雨が降った時はどうしますか。

Can someone kindly explain to me the meaning and usage of ことなん. Thanks in advance.

That's actually two words: "koto" and "nan [desu ga]."
I think the sentence basically means "Concerning the sports meeting tomorrow, what should we do when it rains?"
Here, "koto" is used to turn the preceding phrase into a noun. "nan desu" is attached in order to mark the sentence as an explanation.

By the way, what is the meaning of the first が in this sentence?

Here, "ga" is used to mark "明日のスポーツ大会のことなんです" as an introductory clause. "雨が降った時はどうしますか" is the main clause.

Elizabeth · 3 Feb 2005

Carabas said:
That's actually two words: "koto" and "nan [desu ga]."
I think the sentence basically means "Concerning the sports meeting tomorrow, what should we do when it rains?"
Here, "koto" is used to turn the preceding phrase into a noun. "nan desu" is attached in order to mark the sentence as an explanation.

Although in this case the preceding phrase is already a noun -- the closest English may come is "about tomorrow's sports taikai...." "nan" is a contraction of "na no," which is added depending on the situation for questions, emotional interjections, politeness....maybe someone else can explain it better. :insert smiley:

At any rate, there must be a fairly high degree of certainty it will rain. Generally instead of 時 you see 場合 for these sorts of textbook cases -- in the case that it rains, what should I do?

seasurfer · 3 Feb 2005

Thanks for the explaination.

However, I am sorry to say that I still don't understand the meaning of "nan" in this sentence. Can someone kindly explain it in a very simple way. Thanks

Glenn · 4 Feb 2005

Try these out:

The "redundant" "n" before "da" and "desu" | Japan Forum
more verb stuff | Japan Forum
なんだ (nanda)'s usage | Japan Forum

What is the meaning of ことなん？

seasurfer

先輩

Carabas

後輩

Elizabeth

先輩

seasurfer

先輩

Glenn

一切皆苦

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