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I have learnt the pattern Noun + のような. My question is よう is a Noun or an
Adjective. If it is an Adjective, then why it is preceded by a の. If it is a
Noun then why it is followed by a な. What is behind this pattern? Thanks for
your help.
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2019-07-01T16:37:03.743
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2019-07-01T17:42:10.780
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question
grammar
Is よう an adjective or a noun?
### Is よう an adjective or a noun?

Yes. :)

### More detailed examination...

よう, or in kanji 様, is a bit of an odd duck. It functions in some ways as a
名詞【めいし】 or a noun on its own, but when used in certain constructions, it takes
on qualities of a 形容【けいよう】動詞【どうし】 or _-na_ adjective.

Japanese grammars often classify this term as a 助動詞【じょどうし】 or auxiliary, which
is basically a grab-bag of very-useful functional words that don't fit cleanly
into the other grammatical categories. If you can read Japanese, there's [a
decent article on
Wikipedia](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8A%A9%E5%8B%95%E8%A9%9E_\(%E5%9B%BD%E6%96%87%E6%B3%95\)).
Even if you can't read Japanese that well, the big table there should give you
some idea of the wide variety of things that fall into this Big Bucket o'
Vague Categorization.

For most Japanese learners, it might help to think of よう as a noun that has
developed some _-na_ adjective uses. Very loosely, it's a bit like the English
nouns "kind" or "sort", which have developed extended uses in phrasing like
"kind of / kinda", "kinda like", "sort of / sorta", "sorta like" -- these
function like almost-adjectives deriving from nouns, and are used to convey
the general sense or "that-ness" of a thing or situation.

### Your additional questions

> If it is an Adjective, then why it is preceded by a の?

Again, this word started out as a noun, much like English "sort" or "kind". To
modify any noun in Japanese, you need to either use a verb or adjective --
like 来【き】たよう, or 暖【あたた】かいよう -- or if the preceding word is a noun, you need to
use that linking の -- like 犬【いぬ】のよう, or 駐【ちゅう】車【しゃ】場【じょう】のよう.

> If it is a Noun then why it is followed by a な?

If that よう is used to modify something else, it needs a linking particle.
Nouns usually require the particle の to link to (i.e. modify) another noun.
That said, historically, certain nouns and noun-like words that were used as
descriptors for other nouns developed a different particle pattern, which
evolved into the modern な that's used with _-na_ adjectives. よう is one of
these words.

Note that よう doesn't require the な all the time -- that's only needed when the
よう modifies another noun. If it's used as the main point of the sentence, then
it doesn't need the な.

  * 田中【たなか】さんが到着【とうちゃく】した[よ]{●}[う]{●}です。  
Tanaka-san `[SUBJ]` arrival did **appearance** is  
It **seems** that Tanaka has arrived.

But if the よう is used to modify another noun, then we need the な.

  * この森【もり】は公園【こうえん】の[よ]{●}[う]{●}[な]{●}雰囲気【ふんいき】があります。  
This forest `[TOPIC]` park `[POSSESSIVE]` **appearance** `[MODIFIER]`
atmosphere `[SUBJ]` is/has  
This forest has an atmosphere **kinda like** a park.

This is a very useful word in Japanese that doesn't have any one-to-one match
in English. As you can see above, there are various ways of translating the
meaning of よう.

* * *

Please comment if the above does not fully answer your questions, and I can
update as appropriate.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-01T17:42:10.780
69212
2019-07-01T17:42:10.780
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answer