18409
I remember once I have seen 「なの」 was not placed at the end of a sentence
(meaning it was not a question) ever since then I wondered what it meant but
didn't have any clear examples. Today I saw this sentence in my textbook:

> 男の子 **なの** は知ってる

The textbook translates this sentence as "It is a boy, I know". The topic of
the chapter is not about the 「なの」 part, so no explanation is given about it.

What does 「なの」 mean here?

**Edit 1:** Got the comma right in the translation. Sorry for
misunderstanding!
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-25T22:21:52.190
18408
2022-04-28T01:41:06.590
2022-04-28T01:41:06.590
9831
5131
question
grammar words syntax nominalization
Problems understanding なの in this sentence
You can break なの down into the formal noun の and the adnominal copula な (i.e.,
a form of だ which shows up before nouns).

**Your sentence:** Basically, the sentence （彼が）男の子だ is embedded into は知ってる by
turning it into a noun using の.

> （彼が）男の子だ  
>  ⇒［（彼が）男の子な］のは知ってる

**Alternatives:** You could also write it as

> 男の子であるのは知ってる  
>  "I know that he's a boy."

which is equivalent in meaning but slightly more formal/literary/whatever
because it uses である in place of な to represent the copula. Another option is

> 男の子（だ）ということは知ってる。  
>  "I'm aware of the fact that he's a boy."

which gets across the same point in a slightly more lengthy way.

If it was simply 男の子は知ってる that would either be read as "The boy knows" or "I
know the boy", because there is no copula.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-08-25T22:42:06.740
18409
2014-08-25T22:42:06.740
3097
18408
answer