between these two sentences [Archive] - Japan Forum

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maxchu
Nov 2, 2006, 11:26
Hi,
I have questions regarding to two sentences below:

日本の 人は 親切です。

日本は 人が 親切です。

Are they all valid sentence? And do they have the same meaning? If yes, which one is used more often? If not, what's the difference between them?:relief:

Thanks in advance.

moofs
Nov 2, 2006, 12:35
Mm... Your first sentence isn't incorrect, but 日本の人 is a bit weird. It's just 日本人 for Japanese people. 日本人は親切です。 is perfectly valid and normal for use, which would translate as "Japanese people are nice."

Second one kind of doesn't make sense. It'd be translated awkwardly to something like "Japan is nice people." It's better as 日本では人が親切です。 which means "People in Japan are nice."

The two sentences are different but pretty much convey the same meaning.

undrentide
Nov 2, 2006, 12:39
Hi,
I have questions regarding to two sentences below:
日本の 人は 親切です。
日本は 人が 親切です。
Are they all valid sentence? And do they have the same meaning? If yes, which one is used more often? If not, what's the difference between them?:relief:
Thanks in advance.

As moofs san stated, meaning of these sentences are quite close.
To me it sounds like

日本の人は 親切です。
日本の人 = Japanese people are kind.

日本は 人が親切です。
As to Japan, it's people that are kind. (Maybe its nature is harsh, its environment is not nice, but people are kind, for example.)

The first one is a general statement while the second one emphasize "people".

maxchu
Nov 2, 2006, 17:04
Thanks for the responses. I meant to take the following example, but forgot how to type 物価. :p

日本の 物価は 高い です。

日本は 物価が 高い です。

Now I know both sentences are valid and quite close. :)