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Hey everyone, I’m a bit confused about one of the “と as if” examples:
本 は おもしろい だ と よみやすい です
If the book is interesting it is easy to readSo, I assume we add だ because that first clause 「本 は おもしろい」 would be translated as “the book that is interesting” which is a noun.
This struck me as a bit odd, though, because I can think of lots of situations such as “If he is interesting he is easy to talk to” or some similar sentence, in which the noun part (彼は in that case) could be easily implied.
So then you’re left with 「おもしろい だ と…」 which isn’t correct. You’d have 「おもしろい と…」instead because おもしろい is an い-adjective.
Essentially, my question is… are either of these following sentences correct?
本 は おもしろい と よみやすい です
If the book is interesting it is easy to readおもしろい と よみやすい です
If (the book) is interesting it is easy to readYeah, 面白いだと is incorrect – you only need to tack on the だ for な-adjectives and nouns. Or if it’s the quoting と.
Mind you, I don’t know that the whole sentence is an appropriate use of と-as-if anyway, because と in this usage indicates that the main clause is an unavoidable result of the subordinate clause. まっすぐ行くと、川を見る – if you go straight ahead here, you will see the river, there’s no avoiding it.
So Joel, if that sentence is an inappropriate use of と (as if), what would be an alternate, more appropriate way to write: If the book is interesting it is easy to read ?
～たら
Ah, of course!
In that case, using ~たら, would it be more accurate to describe the sentence as:
If the book is interesting then it is easy to read
Well, that’s what the sentence always was, only the “then” was being omitted.
Thanks.
Yeah. I went back to the lessons and read the explanations between the two types of ‘if’ and just confused myself!
However, comparing the two I don’t find the explanations that clear. I had to look elsewhere for clarity.
I assume Koichi will teach them eventually, but there’s four ways to say “if”. And yeah, Koichi doesn’t make the difference clear.
Joel is right about と being used mainly for results of actions. When I was learning it, I found it better not to think of と as “if” in these contexts, but to still think of it as “and”.
Drop and egg and it will break.
Cut me and I’ll bleed a billion barrels of blueish-blackish blood.Keep in mind that the second clause does not have to be a direct physical consequence of the first, but only to be perceived as one one. For example,
If I’m late for work, I’ll lose my job.
could use と even though it’s not a strict A=>B scenario.
Kyle – that’s a big help, a good explanation, thanks.
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