# なのだ



## Seikun

Hi.
I need everybody's help with this. About six years ago I learnt the use of のだ. The lesson said it means something like "the thing is that.../it is that...". 

お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ。= (It is that) my mother bought a pencil for me. (right?)

Now the thing is that (^^) I don't understand why な takes place in this expression, what its meaning is and so on. I have also read that this form sounds kind of nice/cute. 

I have not practised this (な)のだ thing for years and most likely I have forgotten a lot. Please, help me. Don't worry about being to long in your explanation, the more the better. Consider it a new lesson I must learn.

It has been really hard to find any lessons on this so your help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


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## almostfreebird

I think "なのだ"expression was made popular by Fujio Akatsuka.

_Tensai Bakabon_ was using that.


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## akimura

I'm afraid I don't quite understand your question exactly, Seikun, but if you are wondering about when you should use なのだ and when you should use のだ without　な, here is a guide:noun+なのだ: 彼女は天才なのだ。
verb+のだ: 君は走るのだ。
i-adjective+のだ: 私は貧しいのだ。
na-adjective(root)+なのだ: 彼の家は豊かなのだ。​


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## Seikun

akimura said:


> I'm afraid I don't quite understand your question exactly, Seikun, but if you are wondering about when you should use なのだ and when you should use のだ without　な, here is a guide:noun+なのだ: 彼女は天才なのだ。
> verb+のだ: 君は走るのだ。
> i-adjective+のだ: 私は貧しいのだ。
> na-adjective(root)+なのだ: 彼の家は豊かなのだ。​


It is about two thing. First, confirm that the  _form no desu/da_ has an explanatory function. As I wrote in the post that opens this thread this form のだ could be interpreted as "the thing is that....". Is this correct?

As for な I would like to know its function in this form, what it means, etc.

Thanks for your examples^^


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## q_006

Seikun said:


> Hi.
> I need everybody's help with this. About six years ago I learnt the use of のだ. The lesson said it means something like "the thing is that.../it is that...".
> 
> お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ。= (It is that) my mother bought a pencil for me. (right?)
> 
> Now the thing is that (^^) I don't understand why な takes place in this expression, what its meaning is and so on. I have also read that this form sounds kind of nice/cute.
> 
> I have not practised this (な)のだ thing for years and most likely I have forgotten a lot. Please, help me. Don't worry about being to long in your explanation, the more the better. Consider it a new lesson I must learn.
> 
> It has been really hard to find any lessons on this so your help is appreciated.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


My understanding was that のだ and by extension んだ implied that 


the sentence is a response or explanation to a question
the sentence is a question that needs a response or explanation
used as a sentence "softener" like が or　けど
has no meaning at all and is just used colloquially (ie. normal, casual everyday talk; I could be completely wrong with this one)


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## Seikun

q_006 said:


> My understanding was that のだ and by extension んだ implied that
> 
> 
> the sentence is a response or explanation to a question
> the sentence is a question that needs a response or explanation
> used as a sentence "softener" like が or　けど
> has no meaning at all and is just used colloquially (ie. normal, casual everyday talk; I could be completely wrong with this one)


Thanks. It hard to get lessons about no desu/da and the website I learnt this from is down. Now it is jus na that I can get its meaning/role in this form and I don't want to end up repeating without knowing how this na works in this form.

Thanks.


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## almostfreebird

Like akimura said:
noun+なのだ: 彼女は天才なのだ。
verb+のだ: 君は走るのだ。
i-adjective+のだ: 私は貧しいのだ。
na-adjective(root)+なのだ: 彼の家は豊かなのだ。

And I incidentally remembered previous thread:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1842110&page=2


Example:
大切な*の*はたくさんの人々と話すことです。
The important thing is to talk with a lot of people.

夜中に騒ぐ*の*は近所迷惑です。
To make a lot of noise at midnight disturbs the neighborhood

The "の" in "のは" has a function to nominalise adjectives and verbs.

"大切な" is nominalised into "大切なの"(same as 大切な事）
"騒ぐ" is nominalized into "騒ぐの"(same as 騒ぐ事)

=================================

Also "なの" has a function to assert the statement.

彼は学生です。
彼は学生なのです。
彼は学生なの。(female language)
彼は学生なのだ。(sounds comical)


Edit:
excerpt from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensai_Bakabon

His catchphrase is saying Kore de ii noda (これでいいのだ, It'll be allright?) to someone when trying to get them to go along with one of his stupid plans.


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## Seikun

Thanks^^‎‎‎


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## Ilmen

I would just add to what has been said here that the な placed before a の particle following directly a noun or na-adjective is used to differentiate the explanatory の from the possesive one (only used with nouns and na-adjective).

For instance:
Ａ）この本は誰の？　　Ｂ）私のだ。　　　Whose is this book? / It's mine.
Ａ）その本は何なの？　Ｂ）辞典なんだ。　What is that book? / It's a dictionary (explanatory tone).


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## avalucky

1. Seikun, I think you are getting it correct.
　
"のだ" could be like "the thing is that.../it is that...", which can be applied to the sentence you have presented. (i.e. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ。)

* But be noted that [the thing is that.../ it is that...] could be said in converstaions, or be written in a document; but [のだ] is not used in conversations or documents. This could most likely be used in a novel or a 12-year-old kid's journal.

2. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ can also be written as お母さんは私にえんぴつを買った or お母さんは私にえんぴつを買いました, which is more natural. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ (or お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのである) appears to be a bit exaggerating, or it smells something of a literature. (So, it could be seemingly self-conscious, snobby or even commical.)


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## Seikun

Ilmen said:


> I would just add to what has been said here that the な placed before a の particle following directly a noun or na-adjective is used to differentiate the explanatory の from the possesive one (only used with nouns and na-adjective).
> 
> For instance:
> Ａ）この本は誰の？　　Ｂ）私のだ。　　　Whose is this book? / It's mine.
> Ａ）その本は何なの？　Ｂ）辞典なんだ。　What is that book? / It's a dictionary (explanatory tone).


Thanks for that infromation about な particle in this case.


avalucky said:


> 1. Seikun, I think you are getting it correct.
> 
> "のだ" could be like "the thing is that.../it is that...", which can be applied to the sentence you have presented. (i.e. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ。)
> 
> * But be noted that [the thing is that.../ it is that...] could be said in converstaions, or be written in a document; but [のだ] is not used in conversations or documents. This could most likely be used in a novel or a 12-year-old kid's journal.
> 
> 2. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ can also be written as お母さんは私にえんぴつを買った or お母さんは私にえんぴつを買いました, which is more natural. お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのだ (or お母さんは私にえんぴつを買ったのである) appears to be a bit exaggerating, or it smells something of a literature. (So, it could be seemingly self-conscious, snobby or even commical.)


Thanks for adding more information.


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## mikun

Hi,
This is my personal feeling.
About 70 years ago, there were army and navy in Japan.
soldiers were trained to obey upper class peoples orders just as follow orders from emperor, Hirohito.
Subordinate soldiers must use highest courtesy words to the higher rank peoples by　 adding to the last word , ’であります’、　’なのであります’.
These words has been used only in the military, armed forces. 
赤塚不二夫 has brought this special words to the non-military society, by changing the word style from 'なのであります' to 'なのだ' and changed the word courtesy level from 'highest' to 'middle low' at about 40 years ago.


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