Sunday, September 24, 2017

grammar - 〜ものだから 〜もの ~もん What are the differences?



What is the connotation when using 〜ものだから and 〜もの in a sentence? In my text, they state these examples:


The first set is 〜ものだから:



上着を脱いでもいいですか。 暑いものですから。


Can I take my jacket off? I'm feeling a bit hot.


遅くなってごめん。 道路が混んでいたもんだから。


I'm sorry I'm late. I got caught in a traffic jam.



The second set is 〜もの:




パーティーには行かなかったよ。 知らなかったんだもの。


I didn't go to the party, because I didn't know it was on.


しょうがないよ。 子供なんだもん。


It can't be helped. He's just a kid.



I was told that one is used more often to assert a reason or excuse for something being done, and the other for expressing feeling. Is this true? Other than that, is there any defining line between the two examples?


EDIT: I removed the question about whether a form was meant for subjectivity or objectivity.



Answer



I think ものですから/もんですから/もんだから/ものだから/だもの/だもん can all be used to state a reason or excuse. (暑い)ものですから sounds very polite and a bit feminine (and maybe elegant too). (暑い)ものですから sounds more polite than (暑い)もんですから. (暑い)もんですから doesn't sound feminine or masculine to me. (道が混んでいた)もんだから sounds more casual than (道が混んでいた)ものですから/もんですから. Hmm maybe ものだから sounds a bit more feminine than もんだから in casual conversation. I think ものだから is not used so often as もんだから.
So... you can rephrase them as 「上着(を)脱いでもいい?暑いもん(orの)だから。」(more casual than your example)「遅くなってすみません。道が混んでいたもの(orん)ですから。」(more polite than your example)

I think (知らなかったん)だもの sounds a bit more feminine than (知らなかったん)だもん.

You can also say;
知らなかったもん(sounds more casual and maybe a bit more blunt than 知らなかったんだもん)/
知らなかったもの(sounds a bit more feminine than 知らなかったもん)/
子どもなんだもの(sounds more feminine than 子どもなんだもん)/
子どもだもん(sounds a bit more blunt and maybe more childish than 子どもなんだもん). 

(BTW if you want to sound more elegant and feminine, you can say 「パーティには行きませんでしたわ。知らなかったんですもの。」「しかたありませんわ。子どもなんですもの。」)

Edit: Wait... now I think you're asking if the first set (~ものだから) and the second set (~だもの) are interchangeable, and how these two differ from each other...?

1「上着、脱いでもいい?暑いんだもの/暑いんだもん」
2「遅くなってごめん。道が混んでいたんだもん」
3-a「パーティーには行かなかったよ。知らなかったもんだから。」
b「パーティーには行きませんでした。知らなかったものですから。」
4-a「しょうがありません。子供なものですから。」
b「しょうがないよ。子どもなもんだから」

1 sounds fine to me, but I would rather say 「上着、脱ぐわ。(だって)暑いんだもん。」2 also sounds fine but I think it sounds like someone's blaming you for being late and you're stating an excuse. 3 sounds fine too. 4 sounds a bit awkward to me... I think you'd say 子どもなものですから/子どもなもんだから when you apologize to someone for something your kid has done. e.g. 「申し訳ありません、子どもなものですから」「ごめんね、子どもなもんだから」.

So... I think the first set (~ものだから/もんだから) are more used to just express a reason, while the second set (~だもの/だもん) might have a nuance of complaint or dissatisfaction, a grumbling tone or maybe a criticizing tone... so the second set might sound like 'I didn't go to the party, and it wasn't my fault, because I wasn't invited/nobody told me about it.'/'It can't be helped, and you shouldn't complain, because he's just a kid.'



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