Confusion on use of だった with sentence that uses nominalized verb












1















I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence




アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。




I know this sentence translates to something like




Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.




But what I truly don't understand is what does the だった at the end modify?
Is it modifying アニーが指さしている (Annie pointing) like I believe?



Or is it really modifying 一本のなわばしご (rope ladder)? And the translated sentence is more like




Annie pointed to what was a long rope ladder







grammar copula past cleft-sentences







share|improve this question




















  • 1





    I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

    – snailboat♦
    5 hours ago













  • 'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

    – user27280
    4 hours ago











  • @user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • @snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

    – user27280
    2 hours ago
















1















I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence




アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。




I know this sentence translates to something like




Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.




But what I truly don't understand is what does the だった at the end modify?
Is it modifying アニーが指さしている (Annie pointing) like I believe?



Or is it really modifying 一本のなわばしご (rope ladder)? And the translated sentence is more like




Annie pointed to what was a long rope ladder







grammar copula past cleft-sentences







share|improve this question




















  • 1





    I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

    – snailboat♦
    5 hours ago













  • 'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

    – user27280
    4 hours ago











  • @user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • @snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

    – user27280
    2 hours ago














1












1








1








I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence




アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。




I know this sentence translates to something like




Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.




But what I truly don't understand is what does the だった at the end modify?
Is it modifying アニーが指さしている (Annie pointing) like I believe?



Or is it really modifying 一本のなわばしご (rope ladder)? And the translated sentence is more like




Annie pointed to what was a long rope ladder







grammar copula past cleft-sentences







share|improve this question
















I'm reading a book and have come across this sentence




アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。




I know this sentence translates to something like




Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.




But what I truly don't understand is what does the だった at the end modify?
Is it modifying アニーが指さしている (Annie pointing) like I believe?



Or is it really modifying 一本のなわばしご (rope ladder)? And the translated sentence is more like




Annie pointed to what was a long rope ladder







grammar copula past cleft-sentences




grammar copula past cleft-sentences






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 3 hours ago









Chocolate♦

47.2k457120




47.2k457120










asked 5 hours ago









TylersansanTylersansan

3408




3408








  • 1





    I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

    – snailboat♦
    5 hours ago













  • 'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

    – user27280
    4 hours ago











  • @user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • @snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

    – user27280
    2 hours ago














  • 1





    I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

    – snailboat♦
    5 hours ago













  • 'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

    – user27280
    4 hours ago











  • @user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • @snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

    – Tylersansan
    3 hours ago











  • Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

    – user27280
    2 hours ago








1




1





I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

– snailboat♦
5 hours ago







I'm not sure if you're really interested in the technical terms, but the question as phrased doesn't quite make sense. It doesn't modify anything, it's predicating. Predicates and modifiers are two different things.

– snailboat♦
5 hours ago















'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

– user27280
4 hours ago





'The thing Annie was pointing at' or 'What Annie was pointing at' seems more in line with the original text. Where are you seeing the word 'long'?

– user27280
4 hours ago













@user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

– Tylersansan
3 hours ago





@user27280 I thought this was implied by 一本 (one long cylindrical thing). Maybe this is wrong of me. You are right, there is no word that directly means long in this sentence

– Tylersansan
3 hours ago













@snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

– Tylersansan
3 hours ago





@snailboat I'm all for technical if it can help me understand. Not sure if this is right, but assuming a predicate is defined as "the part that tells us what the subject does or is". Does this mean だった is predicating Annie and my first assumption was correct?

– Tylersansan
3 hours ago













Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

– user27280
2 hours ago





Expanding on @naruto's answer below: The tense of the final verb (or copula in this case) sets the tone (tense) for the entire sentence, thereby changing 'Annie is pointing' to 'Annie was pointing'. So, while there is an influence, it is not in the category of modification.

– user27280
2 hours ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















3














This is a rather simple example of a cleft sentence.




アニーは一本のなわばしごを指さしていた。

Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.



アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

It was a long rope ladder that Annie was pointing to.




Grammatically speaking, だった is modifying nothing.



Note: This の/it is referring to a tangible object, so in this case, it is possible to translate the sentence using the simple grammar of relative clause: "The thing (=の) Annie was pointing to was a long rope ladder." But cleft sentence is a grammaticalized concept that has a wider range of usages.






share|improve this answer


























  • Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

    – Mathieu Bouville
    26 mins ago











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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









3














This is a rather simple example of a cleft sentence.




アニーは一本のなわばしごを指さしていた。

Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.



アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

It was a long rope ladder that Annie was pointing to.




Grammatically speaking, だった is modifying nothing.



Note: This の/it is referring to a tangible object, so in this case, it is possible to translate the sentence using the simple grammar of relative clause: "The thing (=の) Annie was pointing to was a long rope ladder." But cleft sentence is a grammaticalized concept that has a wider range of usages.






share|improve this answer


























  • Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

    – Mathieu Bouville
    26 mins ago
















3














This is a rather simple example of a cleft sentence.




アニーは一本のなわばしごを指さしていた。

Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.



アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

It was a long rope ladder that Annie was pointing to.




Grammatically speaking, だった is modifying nothing.



Note: This の/it is referring to a tangible object, so in this case, it is possible to translate the sentence using the simple grammar of relative clause: "The thing (=の) Annie was pointing to was a long rope ladder." But cleft sentence is a grammaticalized concept that has a wider range of usages.






share|improve this answer


























  • Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

    – Mathieu Bouville
    26 mins ago














3












3








3







This is a rather simple example of a cleft sentence.




アニーは一本のなわばしごを指さしていた。

Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.



アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

It was a long rope ladder that Annie was pointing to.




Grammatically speaking, だった is modifying nothing.



Note: This の/it is referring to a tangible object, so in this case, it is possible to translate the sentence using the simple grammar of relative clause: "The thing (=の) Annie was pointing to was a long rope ladder." But cleft sentence is a grammaticalized concept that has a wider range of usages.






share|improve this answer















This is a rather simple example of a cleft sentence.




アニーは一本のなわばしごを指さしていた。

Annie was pointing to a long rope ladder.



アニーが指さしているのは、一本のなわばしごだった。

It was a long rope ladder that Annie was pointing to.




Grammatically speaking, だった is modifying nothing.



Note: This の/it is referring to a tangible object, so in this case, it is possible to translate the sentence using the simple grammar of relative clause: "The thing (=の) Annie was pointing to was a long rope ladder." But cleft sentence is a grammaticalized concept that has a wider range of usages.







share|improve this answer














share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer








edited 1 hour ago

























answered 2 hours ago









narutonaruto

156k8149291




156k8149291













  • Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

    – Mathieu Bouville
    26 mins ago



















  • Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

    – Mathieu Bouville
    26 mins ago

















Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

– Mathieu Bouville
26 mins ago





Or simply "What Annie was pointing to ..."

– Mathieu Bouville
26 mins ago


















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