1

Context: 精神的に疲れたので早く寝ます。

Is "に" a preposition here?

If "精神的" is a adjective, is it telling that need to use a preposition between a adjective(精神的) and a verb(疲れた)?

Improve this question
2
  • 1
    The "pre" in preposition indicates it would come before the word, so particles in Japanese are usually called postpositions.
    – Leebo
    Commented Jul 8, 2023 at 2:38
  • Thanks! I had not realized the difference between prepositions and particles in Japanese before. Now that "に" is a postposition, it indicates that "に" follows "精神的", but is not part of "~疲れた", right?
    – Theseus
    Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 2:08

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

By itself 精神的 is a な adjective. But in your example above it essentially becomes an adverb when paired with the に. In English this can be seen as adding on the 'ly' suffix to a word.

So we get something like mentally, spiritually, emotionally, or etc depending on the context for 精神的. Overall giving us something like:

精神的に疲れたので早く寝ます

Since I'm mentally worn out, I'm going to bed early.

Improve this answer
2
  • Thanks! So, in this context, "に" can be seen as a suffix to "精神的", but not paired with "~疲れた", is it right?
    – Theseus
    Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 2:14
  • 1
    Correct, に can be seen as suffix to 精神的 and に is not directly paired with it. However, I'd say 精神的に, as a whole, is paired with 疲れた and acts as a modifier against it. Describing the type or kind of worn out someone is, which in this case can be seen as mentally.
    – Tylersanzura
    Commented Jul 10, 2023 at 3:09

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .