11
I think your mistake is that
"If God didn't want animals to be eaten"
and
"If God (or animals) didn't want to be eaten"
don't mean the same thing at all.
The latter case is how we would translate the sentence you gave.
If you wanted to say "A doesn't want B to 〜" you would have to say something like:
・AはBに〜してほしくない
or
・AはBに〜しないでほしい
with the latter ...
7
和む can be safely used in conversations just like other simple wago. You may say 和んだ while you are at an animal cafe or enjoying a 日常系 ("slice-of-life") manga/anime, for example. Some people are too busy to use it in "everyday" conversations, but that's another story.
7
「こいつ、なんか決{き}めてないか？」
If I were to trust your guess from the actual context, I think I know what the phrase would mean. The verb I am thinking of is more often written 「キメる」 rather than 「決める」, but that is not a rule, so here I go.
「キメる」 has a slang meaning of "to take drugs". Thus, the sentence would mean:
"Isn't he on some kind of drug?"
「決める」 has ...
6
To generically answer your question as described in your title, masu-stem (aka 連用形) can often "nominalize" a verb, but the resulting nouns can have unpredictable meanings, and you have to learn them individually. Please see this answer. A good rule of thumb is that you should avoid trying to nominalize a verb using 連用形 unless you know what you are doing.
To ...
5
I know this question is a bit old, but since I came across this as a prominent Google hit when searching for help on the same thing, I figured I'd post a more complete answer for anybody else who comes along..
For context, the line in question appears to be from the "よつばと!" ("Yotsuba&!") manga, in the first volume, page 8 (3rd panel). Yotsuba and her ...
5
「Verb in Affirmative Form + Same Verb in Negative Form」
is a common expression meaning:
"(a discussion of) the pros and cons of [Verb]-ing" or
"whether or not one should [Verb]"
Thus, the passage:
「けんかして嫁{よめ}が出{で}ていきました。 けんかの原因{げんいん}は、家{いえ}に下宿人{げしゅくにん}を置{お}く置{お}かないの件{けん}です。」
means:
"My wife left home after the fight. The cause of our fight ...
4
If there is a reason, you can safely use がる for a first-person subject, because the basic meaning of がる is "to show signs/indications of ～". See:
Another example where I don't know if 欲しい or 欲しがる is right
Can たい and たがる be used for a 1st/2nd/3rd person's desire?
When to use 欲しがる instead of 欲しい
Here 強がる is basically a lexicalized verb and thus has a ...
4
「追{お}う」 here means "to observe and analyze" or just "to investigate". The verb is frequently used for that meaning in news coverage, documentaries, etc.
To use a stiff expression, 「追う」 here means "to inquire into the truth of the matter".
IMHO, "to follow" would be too weak a translation for the context.
Weblio gives "to observe" as one of the ...
4
1) 君{きみ}にアホだと言{い}う
2) 君をアホだと呼{よ}ぶ
In meaning, the difference between the two is minimal.
In grammar, however, the difference is somewhat bigger because 「言う」 is an intransitive verb in 1) and 「呼ぶ」, a transitive verb in 2), which is why the two verbs take different particles -- 「に」 and 「を」 respectively.
1) means "to say to/tell you that you are a fool"
...
3
「それはわしがやりおまえが追いつめられたのでわしの攻撃と同じ事！」
Allow me to first insert a couple of commas for easier reading.
「それはわしがやり、おまえが追{お}いつめられたので、わしの攻撃{こうげき}と同{おな}じ事{こと}！」
This is a 100% informal spoken line; therefore, a serious analysis of its grammatical construction may or may not prove very productive. So, I will try to keep it light.
「やり」 is the 連用形{れんようけい} ("...
3
その白い比いない裸体は、薄暮の背景の前に置かれて輝やいていた。
I'm assuming that 輝やいて is a typo for 輝いて. (Maybe it's a variant spelling, I don't know).
This て is simply 'and'. So 置かれて輝やいていた is nothing more mysterious than "was set and was shining".
You ask about whether one action modifies the other. Many times a clause in て-form can adverbially modify the following clause, e.g.
...
3
Regarding this ～とては, I initially thought this was a typo, but this seems to be a valid construction taken from an archaic grammar pattern, meaning "Speaking of ～" or something. See @goldbrick's comment. Usually ～としては ("As for ～", "As ～", "From ～'s standpoint", "As far as ～ is concerned") is used in modern standard Japanese.
～があるばかりだ is "there is only ～" or "...
3
「顔{かお}はやや仰向{あおむ}きがち に、天{てん}の栄光{えいこう}をながめやる 目{め}が、深{ふか}くやすらか にみひらかれて いた。」
You ask:
Verbs suffixed by がち and then followed by に may function as an adverb, but then how does it relate with 顔, which is is followed は?
「仰向き」 is a noun here, not a verb. 「がち」 can be preceded by either the 連用形 of a verb or a noun.
「顔はやや仰向きがちに」 adverbially modifies the ...
2
察して is the te-form of 察する, and it is one of the verbs that take quotative-と. The meaning is "to notice/understand/guess (some fact, indirectly via a circumstantial evidence, a facial expression, etc)". The と-clause contains what is noticed/understood.
追いかけられていると察する
to notice they are chased (not by actually seeing the chaser but by seeing some indirect ...
2
「あんな小僧{こぞう}に何{なに}ができる。洋介{ようすけ}の予備{よび}にもなりはしない。」
The unmentioned subject of the second sentence is none other than 「あの小僧」.
The main verb of that sentence is 「なる」 ("to become") in the emphasized negative form 「なりはしない」 ("will never become"). Who could or could not become a reserve for Yosuke here? It would logically be あの小僧.
If the unmentioned subject of ...
2
You are essentially correct. The phrase おやすみなさい（お休みなさい・御休みなさい if you are choosing to write with the characters）is a conjugation of the verb 休む (やすむ：rest, take a day off, lie down etc.), from which the noun 休み（やすみ）is also derived. So, the link is a direct one.
To be specific, おやすみなさい is a (one of various!) polite imperative form of the verb 休む. The なさい and ...
1
I will be interested to see if someone can produce a good, comprehensive answer to this question. I only have a partial answer; as an advanced learner but non-native speaker, the reasons for distinctions between constructions that use テ形 and those that use 連用形 seem pretty arbitrary, though I'm sure there are historical or etymological reasons.
That said, ...
1
強がる is a word per se, meaning "to pretend to be tough"; I think it can be used also for first person.
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