Let’s learn Japanese with Frieren’s quote from Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End (葬送のフリーレン).
CONTENTS
Video
Frieren’s Quote
Japanese: お前の前にいるのは千年以上生きた魔法使いだ。
Romaji: omae no mae ni iru no wa sen-nen ijō ikita mahōtsukai da.
English: The person standing before you is a mage who has lived for over a thousand years.
Analysis
お前の前にいるのは
お前 is the second-person pronoun “you”, referring to an equal or inferior.
の used between nouns is the modifying particle. With this particle, the preceding noun can modify the following noun.
前 means“front” and it’s followed by the location particle に so お前の前に means “in front of you”.
いる is a verb meaning “to exist” or “to be” used for animate objects like people or animals.
の attached to a verb is the nominalising particle which turns the previous verb clause into a noun.
So お前の前にいるの means “the one who is in front of you” which can be translated as “the person standing before you”.
は is the topic particle which shows the preceding word is the topic, and the rest of the sentence is the comment which refers to the topic.
千年以上生きた魔法使いだ
千 is the number meaning “a thousand” and 年 is the counter suffix meaning “years” and it’s followed by 以上 meaning “more than” or “over” so 千年以上 means “over a thousand years”
生きた is the ta-form of a verb 生きる meaning “to live”, so 生きた means “lived”.
魔法使い is a compound noun made up of 魔法 meaning “magic” and 使い meaning “user” so 魔法使い can be translated as “mage”.
When a verb is followed by a noun, the previous verb clause modifies the following noun. So 千年以上生きた魔法使い means “a mage who (has) lived for over a thousand years”.
だ (auxiliary verb) following a noun is used to affirm the statement.
Examples
Noun の Noun
憧れの人
akogare no hito
The person I admire
この歌の最初の部分
kono uta no saisho no bubun
The first part of this song
明日のレストランの予約
ashita no resutoran no yoyaku
The restaurant reservation for tomorrow
Verb のは Noun だ
そこにいるのは誰だ。
soko ni iru no wa dare da.
Who is there?
私が言いたいのはそういうことじゃない。
watashi ga iitai no wa sōyū koto janai.
That is not what I wanted to say.
お母さんが買ったのは牛乳じゃなくて豆乳だった。
okāsan ga katta no wa gyūnyū janakute tōnyū datta.
What my mother bought was soy milk, not milk.
のは can also be used with adjectives.
日本で一番寒いのは北海道だ。
nihon de ichiban samui no wa hokkaidō da.
The coldest area in Japan is Hokkaido.
大切なのは諦めないことだよ。
taisetsu na no wa akiramenai koto da yo.
The important thing is not to give up.
Nouns Modified with Verb Clause
日本語学校に通う学生
nihongo gakkō ni kayou gakusei
A student who goes to Japanese language school
日本語を流暢に話すアメリカ人
nihongo o ryūchō ni hanasu amerika-jin
An American who speaks Japanese fluently
昨日映画館で友達と見た映画
kinō eigakan de tomodachi to mita eiga
A movie that I saw with my friend in the cinema yesterday
Nouns can also be modified with adjective clauses.
ステーキがおいしいレストラン
sutēki ga oishii resutoran
A restaurant where the steak is delicious
月がきれいな夜
tsuki ga kirei na yoru
A night when the moon is beautiful
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