Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I am writing a song in English which also has some Japanese words. At some point, I want to say "The beautiful Nakamura". I've seen here that Na is used when kirei modifies the noun. However, since Nakamura is the name of a person, does this mean that the noun is not modified, so I could simply use kirei Nakamura? (preferable, because it keeps the song meter intact).
Also, can there be a problem with Nakamura if I put kirei before? (it might be confused with kirei na Kamura)
When the word "kirei（きれい）" modifies noun, you must use "kirei" with "na" whether or not the noun is a name of a person. The phrase "kirei Nakamura(きれい中村)" is grammatically incorrect. Therefore the correct phrase is "kirei na Nakamura(きれいな中村)".
Of course, whether that phrase sounds natural depends on whole lyrics. In some cases, 「Nakamura kirei(+da, dane, danaa)」may be preferable which means not beautiful Nakamura but that Nakamura is beautiful.
In so many cases, "utsukushii(美しい)"is more suitable than "kirei(きれい)" as a translation of "beautiful". Since "utsukushii" is -i adjective, you don't need to use any suffix when you modify a noun with "utsukushii" whether or not the noun is a name of a person.
I think you're misunderstanding the definition of "modifying" when it comes to grammar. When you say "The beautiful Nakamura" in English, your "beautiful" is a considered a modifier, for it is describing Nakamura, adding detail and specific information to the noun.
Whenever a so called -na adjective is being used as an adjective preceding a noun it should take the な.
It should be okay if きれい中村 is the name of a person, consider the following example:
But such kind of name would not be regular and only suggested since you have mentioned to write a song. If grammar is a great concern, きれいな中村 is always the correct answer.
