Some time ago, a user here corrected me that a sentence must only have one subject modifier. Well… - Feed Post by zeto

• 
  WhiskeyMcGhee

  が can also be used to express contradiction, as for the two subject modifiers, well I can only assume that it is a compound sentence because of the te-form.
  
  'I can only assume...' famous last words, so don't quote me on this.
  

  October 10, 2013 at 1:53am
• 
  zeto

  Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm not sure if there's any expression of contradiction in the second sentence. Well?

  October 10, 2013 at 10:29am
• 
  mog86uk

  (I've numbered the main chunks of the sentence, to make it easier for me to reference.)
  
  This is how I'd personally translate the sentence, being careful not to give it extra meaning:
  
  1. 周りがうるさくて、 = 'Noisy surroundings,'
  2. 彼が行っていることが = '(the thing of) he is doing'
  3. あまり聞こえなかった。 = 'did not hear much.'
  
  (The chunks are numbered for easier reference)
  
  '[Because of the] noisy surroundings, [I] did not hear much [of] him doing [stuff].'
  
  I'm not really too sure I'm using these grammatical terms correctly, but here goes...
  
  1+2+3 = compound sentence
  1+2 = subject of sentence
  3 = predicate of sentence
  
  1 = relative/subordinate clause
  周りが = subject of this clause
  うるさくて = predicate of this clause
  
  2+3 = main clause
  2 = subject of main clause
  3 = predicate of main clause
  
  Main thing I'm trying to say is:
  
  Because '彼が行っていること' is a noun phrase...
  彼が = subject
  行っている = predicate
  こと = nominaliser
  ...and then が is attached to the end of the noun phrase, to use it as the clause subject.
  
  The hidden topic-は is who the main verb of the sentence 聞こえなかった applies to - the person who 'didn't hear (much)'.
  I think all the が are fine in this sentence.
  
  Sorry for the long post, and I'm definitely not an expert it's likely I'm very wrong! :D
  
  Here's a link which might be useful:
  http://www.gwu.edu/~eall/vjg/vjghomepage/vjghome.htm (units 37 & 38)
  
  Unit 39 helped me with that na-adjectiveな+んだ thing we were previously talking about. :)

  October 10, 2013 at 2:55pm
• 
  zeto

  noted..

  October 13, 2013 at 9:54am