What does 'こそ' really do in a conversation? I'm guessing it's similar to subject/topic modifier… - Feed Post by zeto
What does 'こそ' really do in a conversation? I'm guessing it's similar to subject/topic modifier like 'は' and ’が’ but it sounds more manly to me.
Example:
俺こそゼトー。(I am zeto.)
そんな人こそ友達にいたくない。(Don't want to be friends to such person.)
I'm not sure if those are grammatically correct though.
Example:
俺こそゼトー。(I am zeto.)
そんな人こそ友達にいたくない。(Don't want to be friends to such person.)
I'm not sure if those are grammatically correct though.
posted by zeto
Comments 5
こそ alters the meaning of a statement in a very interesting way. ex. "私はクリス。" → I am Chris. "私こそクリス。" → If there was anybody that was qualified enough to call himself Chris, it's definitely me.
another ex. "そんな人を友達にしたくない" → I don't want to be friends with that type of person. "そんな人こそ友達にいたくない。" → Out of all the people that I don't want to make my friend, that guy is number one.
or
I would be okay with making all of the other unpleasant people in the world my friends, as long as it's not that guy.
hope that helps :)
LOL ^ that was awesome
then how about "俺の方こそ" sentence?
and i think the translate will be better if you use this word
俺こそゼトー。 → that's why i'm chris
そんな人を友達にしたくない" → that's why i don't want to be friends with him/her
Ah, so that means 'こそ' implies that other reasons are not as important as the one being expressed.
友達になるということは好きじゃないこそ。 -> I don't want to be friends with such person and any other means are less important. (E.g. being subordinate might be okay)
- Mm, I'm not sure about the prioritization of reasons expressed, but it definitely conveys conviction in the statement.
Another example that might be helpful to think about is the commonly expressed polite phrase こちらこそ。It's what you say when someone thanks you for something, but you feel you should be the one thanking them. こちら is literally "here" but in the phrase you use it in reference to yourself. Then you add on the こそ to let the person know that, if there's anybody who should be expressing gratitude, it should be you.
Jisho.org has some really nice sentence examples as well. 辛抱こそが大事なんだ。"It's patience that counts" (above other characteristics). 今こそ行動する時だ。"Now (above other times) is the time for action".
