# 彼は家がとても広いです



## TunS

Hello everyone,

I just have a simple question for you.. 

Q.)Is there any difference between these two sentences...
１．**彼の家はとても広いです。**
２．**彼は家がとても広いです**　（＜－私のです）　

The second is my attempt, I seen a sentence of a similar structure　（彼は足が長いです） and wanted to try it for myself　　

So does it work?

皆さん、ありがとうございます。


----------



## Demurral

When I talk about parts of the body or the like, I found normal this contructions... (kareha me ga ookii desu). However, to my learner, non-native, clumsy ear the one with "house" in it sounds strange...

I would say your 1.. Don't know why, though.


DEM


----------



## Wishfull

TunS said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> I just have a simple question for you..
> 
> Q.)Is there any difference between these two sentences...
> １．**彼の家はとても広いです。**
> ２．**彼は家がとても広いです**　（＜－私のです）
> 
> The second is my attempt, I seen a sentence of a similar structure　（彼は足が長いです） and wanted to try it for myself
> 
> So does it work?
> 
> 皆さん、ありがとうございます。


Hi.
I think both sounds equal to me.
They are perfect for non-natives or beginners.


OOさんの家はとても広いんです。
００さんは家がとても広いんです。
００さんち（００さん家）はとても広いんです。
are better when spoke.

When written,
彼の家は豪邸だ。
彼は豪邸に住んでいる。

For some reasons, I recommend above to advanced learners.


----------



## TunS

Elo Dem, 
yeah thats what I was thinking, but Japanese being so grammatically open, I thought I give it a try!
Moltes gràcies!

ウィシフルさん、こんばんは、
Yeah, I know what you mean, my sentences sound a bit... 'textbook'. I much prefer yours! 
有難いです！


----------



## wathavy

TunS said:


> Q.)Is there any difference between these two sentences...
> １．**彼の家はとても広いです。**
> ２．**彼は家がとても広いです**　（＜－私のです）


There is a difference between these.
1 would be quoted as ' a ' house. while 2 would be ' the ' house.

At least I was taught in this way when I could not tell the difference between 'a' and 'the' from my English tutor.

Best Regards.


----------



## Wishfull

wathavy said:


> There is a difference between these.
> 1 would be quoted as ' a ' house. while 2 would be ' the ' house.
> 
> At least I was taught in this way when I could not tell the difference between 'a' and 'the' from my English tutor.
> 
> Best Regards.


Hi.
I don't understand. Please tell me more?
I think No.1 and No.2 are both "the house".


----------



## Demurral

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> I don't understand. Please tell me more?
> I think No.1 and No.2 are both "the house".



The way I understood it...and maybe this helps.

-kare no ie ha totemo hiroi desu.
-His house is A big one.


--kareha ie-ga totemo hiroi desu.
--As for him, THE house is big.


----------



## wathavy

Wishfull said:


> Hi.
> I don't understand. Please tell me more?
> I think No.1 and No.2 are both "the house".



Wishfull, I might be totally wrong.
I was supposed to say, 'ga(が)' supposed to have 'A/a'.
And 'wa(は)' supposed to have 'the'.

I must have made a mistake, since I am too a Japanese who does not have good sense on using these 'a' and 'the'.

I beg your pardon, literally.


----------



## wathavy

Demurral said:


> The way I understood it...and maybe this helps.
> 
> -kare no ie ha totemo hiroi desu.
> -His house is A big one.
> 
> 
> --kareha ie-ga totemo hiroi desu.
> --As for him, THE house is big.


You might be right.... again, I am less confident.


----------



## TunS

Demurral said:


> The way I understood it...and maybe this helps.
> 
> -kare no ie ha totemo hiroi desu.
> -His house is A big one.
> 
> 
> --kareha ie-ga totemo hiroi desu.
> --As for him, THE house is big.



 I have tried to distinguish between は and が, like this...
彼の家はとても広いです- His house is BIG (simply information about his house)
彼は家がとても広いです- HIS HOUSE is big (his house is the big one in comparison to other houses)

I can't quite fully understand the は・が　difference yet, so my option could be way off! 

ワタヴぇイさん、ありがとうございます。　（＜－To Wathavy）

ウィシフルさんとデムラルさん、もう一同僕は有難いです


----------



## Flaminius

While pondering on the differences between the two sentences under consideration, I realised that the postposition _-wa_ connects the subject (or topic) and the predicate in such a way that the predicate is the major characteristic of the subject.

In more concrete terms, P is the typical S-ness (where S is for subject and P for predicate).  Even in the classical period we used to say, "春は曙" (literally, speaking of spring, dawn [is beautiful]).  Sēshōnagon saw in dawn what's to be valued most about spring.

Back to the topic sentence, 彼は家がとても広いです has 彼は as the subject, and 家が広い as the predicate (Japanese predicates can have an internal subject as I have mentioned a few times).  Having a big house (or more literally, that his house is big) is a major characteristic of 彼.  In order for the sentence to be meaningful, it should be understood in a context where this nuance is relevant.

For example, if one wonders why this fellow took 5 minutes to get out of his bed and reach the phone, this sentence can be an explanation.


----------



## TunS

フラミンニスさん、ありがとうございます


----------

