A further note on the ~がる (~garu) suffix in Japanese

By | October 21, 2015

Last year I wrote about the ~garu suffix in Japanese, and have seen a few hits to that article since apparently it is a fairly common question for student of Japanese.

Just the other day I had said to my wife the following phrase:

  • 僕はそれ、ずっと懐かしがってた  (boku ha sore, zutto natsukashigatte ita)

Upon which, she showed an surprised expression and said that it sounded like I was talking in the 3rd person about somebody else.

Even though I had written about that nuance of ~garu in my previous article, I had slipped up and tried using the ~がる form for my own feelings.

Anyway, it’s always good to refresh on old material so I guess I should go back and read my own posts once in awhile (:

By the way, I think changing my statement to the below would be more natural, and remove the feeling of a “third person”:

  • 僕はそれ、ずっと懐かしく思ってた。 (boku ha sore, zutto natsukashiku omotte ta)

 

 

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