From: "Marcus Smith"
> >What kind of situations? I was under the impression that Japanese NEVER
> >placed anything after the verb.
> In formal speech I don't think the can. But back when I was studying
> Japanese,
> my TA would be talking to us and add words into the sentence after the
> verb. I
> think she was putting them in as an afterthought, but there wasn't always
a
> pause. Whenever she did that, the words were case marked. Probably she
was
> speaking like she would to another native, forgetting that we didn't have
the
> experience to know what was being left out, so she would add them in
later.
This is extremely common in spoken Japanese. I've been away a while, but I
think the effect was to *sound* like an afterthought (as it's usually said
in lower pitch and volume), thereby making the speaker seem more deferential
by softening his/her utterance.
Shiranai, asono hito o.
(I'm afraid) I don't know that person.
as opposed to the more direct:
Asono hito o shiranai.
I don't _know_ that person.
Issyoo ni iku, snakku ni?
Shall we go together to the snack (a Japanese drinking establishment --
bring *all* of your cash)?
as opposed to:
Snakku ni issyoo ni iku?
Are you coming with us to the snack?
Kou