Lower Intermediate 11:文法問題

[watermen]

お忙しいとは思いましが、お時間がありましたら、お返事ください。
Why は is being used after と。Why not just お忙しいと思いましが...

[Javizy]

「は」throws emphasis on whatever comes after it, in this case the verb「思う」, so the translation would be something like 'I do think you are busy...', emphasising that he really has taken it into consideration, but still has to say the next part.

I really recommend the book 'Making Sense of Japanese' by Jay Rubin. It's a collection of short essays that clarify a lot of complicated grammar points, and really help you understand what's going on. 'The myth of the subjectless sentence' and 'Wa and Ga' are especially good.

[watermen]

Why not はと instead the other way around? Does とand 思い always come together?

[Sean]

I think は will always follow another particle when used, には、では、and so on.　I don't know if there's a grammatical reason for it (I probably just don't know it), that's just how it is.

と does tend to precede certain verbs like と言う, と思う, と考える, kind of similar to "[say/think] that..." in English.

But you can use the verbs with other particles, although the meaning would probably change when you do. To try to come up with an example, ...と信じる = 'believe that...', whereas　...を信じる = 'believe in...', or ...を思う = 'to think of/about...'. Or お礼を言う = 'to say thanks/thank [someone]'.

There's also things such as ...を思う心, 'a heart that 思うs...' (人を思う心, 国を思う心). In that case, I think it's more a love for something (people/humanity, your country, your children/significant other). At least that's what I think that phrase means, but I'm open to any corrections about it (or any of this)!


As an aside, I would second the recommendation for Jay Rubin's book in general. It really is an interesting book.

[Psy]

I think は will always follow another particle when used, には、では、and so on.　I don't know if there's a grammatical reason for it (I probably just don't know it), that's just how it is.

Just to clarify-- you're right. には、では、とは, etc. Not をは or もは, however... は replaces those two entirely.

[プチクレア]

As an aside, I would second the recommendation for Jay Rubin's book in general. It really is an interesting book.

Hear hear !!!

though I really liked the old title, "Gone Fishin' "