I thought volitional verbs were of the form ~おう, like たべよう or かおう. However, in both your example and a few that I looked up, this wasn't the case; is there a different meaning to volitional that I'm not aware of?
Ah, sorry maybe I'm saying it wrong. I simply meant an act that was done with intention, such as eating, drinking, speaking etc. The verb form for this is just the standard dictionary form.
Well, the dictionary I confirmed your information in also said 'volitional verbs', so there is something to it. Maybe it means transitive verbs - with a direct object?
Further info: this can only be used with the non-past dictionary form.
About that transitive idea, I'm not totally sure. For most of the examples the verb is manipulating a direct object using を but a couple leave it out. I guess I don't completely understand this grammar point, sorry.
Hehe - no worry, maybe someone else will chime in. As for the transitive bit - even if the direct object is left out (implied or mentioned in a previous sentence), it is still transitive.
I think the grammar pattern fareastfurfaro is referring to is when you have to nominalize a verb using の then using に with a verb or adjective that requires such a particle. For example,
Japanese: このスプーンはアブサンを作るのにちょうど良い。 English: This spoon is perfect for making absinthe.
I think 宮本's sentence is dead on. Basically, the use of volition simply means that the actor can control the initiation of an action. Make as in the example above, as well as eat, drink, sleep, etc. The problem is, やろう、飲もう, etc. are also referred to as volitional verbs, making this more confusing.
I wouldn't worry about it, 勝利. We're just discussing the meaning of the word volition. Your sentence is a perfect example of the grammar point. However, in the grammar dictionary that I consulted to confirm what furfaro was saying, it had very similar sentences along with a note underneath it saying 'only non-past, dictionary, volitional verbs can be used in this fashion'. Since most studiers of Japanese associate 'volitional' with the よう form of the verb, we were trying to figure out what 'volitional' meant when referring to verbs in a sentence like yours.
I found an example in JED for android where のに is used. I didn't quite understand it:
少女は友達にお茶をいれるのに忙しかった = (translated as): The girl was busy making tea for her friends.
When I first read it I thought it said: Even though she was making tea she was busy. Can somebody explain?
You have to parse the sentence as お茶をいれるの + に - the girl was busy with the act of making tea. のに meaning "although" definitely outnumbers instances of の + に in terms of frequency of usage, but the other pattern isn't uncommon either, so it's good to keep in the back of your mind.
Here's another similar example: 問題を解くのに時間が掛かった - literally, "It took time in solving the problem," or "Solving the problem took time."
In terms of your discussion about volitional and non-volitional verbs, the distinction is about whether you can control the action and is important for a large number of Japanese grammar points.
アイスを食べるのに、スプーンが必要です。
(here as others have noted の is functioning as a nominalizer -- note that there is a second のに that means "despite")
VS.
日本語を話せるように、毎日練習します。
先生を怒らないように、静かに食べます。
The ように construction only accepts non-volitonal verbs, i.e. things you cannot directly control.
Sorry, my computer doesn't have the proper language pack at the moment therefore I cannot write in proper Japanese but here is the way noni works, basing myself from the begginer dictionary for Japanese grammar and Kodansha dictionary of Japanese particle.
First and foremost, you'll be creating nominalized sentences using noni. In front of an adjective-noun it will be na noni, datta.Often Noni means although or Even though. At the end of a spoken sentence, it express discontent.
The other way to see noni is ''in the process of doing'' ''for the purpose of'' Taberu noni would be ''in order to eat...''or Boku wa nihongo no shimbun wo yomu noni jisho wo tsukau ''I use a dictionary in order to read a japanese newspaper''
When it comes to Verbs of motion, noni sets a precedent where no time was wasted.
Finally it can indicate a mean or material with which X can be accomplished such as
''kono hako hon wo ireru noni choodo ii ne'' This box is perfect for putting the box in isnt it. noni rep. ''for''
On the grammar pages, we request that only originals made by users are added. We may or may not have permission from ones written on other sites, so we need to be careful with those!
