About Japanese grammar

Dear All

I have been very confused with the use of　は、のは、のに.
Could anyone teach me with some solid examples on how to use them correctly(differentiate them)?

The のに　is not telling however or but in the meaning. It seems like なになに＋の＋に...I am confused...

Also there is many situation I need to choose between が　and　は　for the main subject topic particle. How to determine which of them is right for certain subject topic?

Thank you so much for your help and teaching.

best rgds
Jason

I can't really describe "wa," and "nowa" and "noni" apart without the sentences where you've encountered them... :) You've got particles and conjuctions bunched up together there...

Let me just try to explain what this "..... noni" (used as a conjuction meaning "even though..." "..... however.) See the different clauses in [ ] to see how they connect to "...noni."

(With verbs)
- [学校に行った]のに、先生が休みで授業がキャンセルになった。(Though I went to school, the teacher was off and the lesson was cancelled.)
- [日本に行きたい]のに、まだお金が足りない。(I want to go to Japan, but I don't yet have enough money/Though I want to go to Japan, I don't have enough money yet.)

(With da/desu verb)
- [今夜デートな]のに、残業になりそうだ。(Though I have a date this evening, it looks like I'm going to have to work overtime.)

(With na-adjective)
- [彼女はきれいな]のに、言葉がきたない。(Though she is beautiful, the way she speaks is sloppy.)

(With i-adjective)
- [あの犬は大きい]のに、こわがりだ。(Though that dog is big, he is timid/gets scared easily.)

Dear AK

Thanks a lot for giving so many examples.
I really appreciate your teaching. Seems like all your sentence with noni actually gives the meaning of though/although.

I have another question with noni which I need your help to explain.
See below
会社まで　いくのに　毎朝　１じいかんはんも　かかります。
What is the meaning of noni here refers to ?
I am confused with though for this sentence.
Why cant I use のは　for this sentence?

Another one is には　question.
このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　なのに　ぜんぜん　つれません.
のに for this sentence I can understand. But には　 is confusing. Can I replace には　with は　or に？
By the way, I found in dictionary はず means can/ought/should, but for this sentence, is the meaning of `can` correct?

Sorry for the long winded questions.
Kindly help
Thank you AK . どもありがとうございます

best rgds
Jason

会社まで　いくのに　毎朝　１じかんはんも　かかります。

To say "(something/doing something) takes (certain time)," the sentence structure is simply:
[・・・]に　（時間）（が）　かかります。

A noun or a noun phrase comes inside the brackets [ ].
For example,
[つうきん]に　1じかんはん　かかります。 (Commuting takes 1 hour and a half.)

If it's a verb (doing something), it needs to be changed into a noun phrase. "going to my office" would be either 会社までいくこと or 会社までいくの (see the function of "no" to make noun phrases.)

[会社までいくの]に、１じかんはん　かかります。(To go to my office, it takes 1 hour and a half./Going to my office takes 1 hour and a half.)

このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　なのに　ぜんぜん　つれません. (In this pond there should be many fish, but I can't catch any at all.)

- I must say it sounds best/most natural with には here in this sentence. You are saying "IN this pond," so you should have に in the first place. ("[Place] ni [animals] ga imasu" structure) And yet, the topic of this sentence is "what should be in this pond," so as a topic of the whole sentence, you add は as well.

- For this sentence, はず here means "(there) should (be)," as in the English sentence I gave above.

By the way, just for reference, here are a few examples where you have the の for making a noun phrase combined with は.

If you want to say "something" is difficult, then it's simply:
[ ] は　むずかしい。with a noun or a noun phrase in [ ].

If it's a noun, then for example,
[にほんご]は　むずかしい。(The Japanese language is difficult.)

If you want to say "doing something" is difficult, you have to turn the verb into a noun phrase. So if you want to say it's difficult to memorize kanji (kanji wo oboeru), then you use "no" to make a noun phrase (or "koto"). So as noun phrase, you will get かんじを　おぼえるの or かんじを　おぼえること

[かんじを　おぼえるの]は　むずかしい。(Memorizing kanji is difficult.)

wow,AK,you're good!
I knew all of those structures before,but I don't think I'll be confusing myself again!Thanks for the explanations,and the original poster who asked for them!

Dear AK

Excellent!
Really thank you for doing your best to teach me the language. Am really appreciate once again!

I am still digesting the setences and so far so good.

For the sentence,
このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　なのに　ぜんぜん　つれません,
the なのに portion I need some help. Why is な needed here?
Could not we just say
このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　のに　ぜんぜん　つれません,

I know that NA need to be added for Na-adjective as a rough understanding. Am I right?

Thank you AK and it is great to see your answers to many of the posting on this site.
I hope you can continue this this teaching.....


Jason

このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　なのに　ぜんぜん　つれません

If you take those sentences apart, you have two sentences:

このいけには　さかなが　たくさん　いるはず　[です]。(There should be many fish in this pond.)

ぜんぜん　つれません。 (I cannot catch any at all)

To connect those two sentences with "...noni," you need to change the verb [です] into its connective form of [です] (or だ if in informal speech), which is な.

Dear AK

Formidable! I thank you for the excellent explanation. Let me run through those exercise again after review. Be right back in another post.
どもありがとうございます

Jason

Thank you for writing :)

By the way, for writing "doumo arigatou gozaimasu," どうもありがとうございます with an う is the right way :) Have a good day/night!

Dear AK

どうもありがとうございます！

Ｊａｓｏｎ

Have a good weekend, Jason :)