Inanimate subject constructions
A construction in which the cause is the subject,rather than a sentence in which the creature is the subject.
What makes you happy?
The subject is the [reason, condition, means].
Word order is the third sentence pattern or higher [SVO, SVOO, SVOC]
SVO [subject (inanimate) + transitive + O], SVOC [subject (inanimate) + transitive + OC],
SVOO [subject (inanimate) + transitive + O person + O thing]
The subject S is translated adverb-like as "because of S" or "because of S" (cause),
and O (object) is translated as the subject.
O is translated as V.
Small Points
. The inanimate subject construction is a manifestation of the conceptual difference between English and Japanese.Subject Constructions
Japanese is an automatic subject construction: the subject changes, focus on what happens to the subject. (Focus on the result.)Inanimate subjects consist of transitive constructions (focus on cause and effect) preferred by native English speakers,
The cause is the subject.
The bus will take you to New York city.
The word order of [cause] + verb + [person + to infinitive (result)] is common.
(English literal translation: that bus [cause] will take you to New York City [result].)
[Japanese: that bus will get you to New York [result]]
. Without inanimate subjects,
. English compositions that follow Japanese conventions tend to be redundant sentences
because of the need for conjunctions such as because.
Short Notes
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