Why is it called Rabbit House with 〜のであります
Grammar Explanation: Reasoning with 〜のだ
After having her suggestions of staff wearing bunny ears be dismissed, Cocoa asks about the café’s name.
- ココア:
- 「じゃあなんでラビットハウスなのでありますか！」
- “Then why is this place called Rabbit House, may I ask?!”
- Literal: “Then why is it that it's Rabbit House!”
- リゼ:
- 「そりゃティッピーがこの店のマスコットだからだろう？」
- “Well, obviously it's because Tippy the rabbit is the shop's mascot.”
Key Points
1なのでありますか is explanatory のだ in a stiff, formal form
- ラビットハウスなのでありますか breaks down as ラビットハウス + な + の + であります + か. The な links the noun to の, the same way it does in なのだ.
- のだ becomes のである in formal writing, and であります is the polite form of である. In ordinary polite speech, the question would be なんでラビットハウスなんですか. Casually, it would be なんでラビットハウスなの？
2This なので is not “because”
- Reason ので needs a result after it, as in 雨なので中止です. Here only ありますか follows, so the で belongs to であります.
- When ので is followed by a form of ある, read it as の + である.
3なんで with explanatory の asks for the background
- なんで means “why”. With explanatory の, the question asks for the story behind the café’s name.
- Cocoa’s complaint is that the name and the café don’t match. If the staff can’t wear bunny ears, why give the café a rabbit name?
4じゃあ responds to the rejected idea
- じゃあ, “then” or “in that case”, picks up from the moment before, when her bunny-ear suggestion was turned down.
5であります makes Cocoa sound theatrical
- であります is a stiff form of です, associated with speeches and military-style reports. Cocoa uses it to make her complaint sound like a formal protest.
6Rize answers with だからだろう
- そりゃ is a spoken contraction of それは. ティッピーがこの店のマスコットだから gives the reason, and だろう with a rising tone treats it as obvious.
- から can be followed by だろう, but reason ので cannot. That is one more sign that Cocoa’s なので is not the reason marker.
Vocabulary
この (This)
この means “this” or “these” and comes directly before a noun. It points to something near the speaker or something the speaker is referring to in the conversation.
See Also
- Grammar: Reasoning with 〜のだ
- Grammar: Polite style with です and ます
- Grammar: The copula だ
- Future entry: Because with 〜から
- Grammar: Presuming with 〜だろう and 〜でしょう
ご注文はうさぎですか？ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.