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The following sentence means "seeing all the different foreign people was
interesting."

This, according to my Japanese friends is incorrect:

> 色々な外国人を見ているは面白かった。

... and this is correct:

> 色々な外国人を見ているのは面白かった。

To me, the difference is so subtle that I can't really get a feel for how the
presence of の really changes it.

Can someone provide an explanation that clarifies what makes の important in
this situation?

Update: I'm actually still confused by this. Couldn't the first example mean
"Looking at the various foreigners was interesting", and the second example
mean "That I was looking at the various foreigners was interesting"?
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2011-06-19T06:16:48.123
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2011-06-30T06:36:10.340
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question
grammar particle-の particle-は
What is the difference between は and のは?
In this case, 「の」 changes the verb "to [be] see" into the
[gerund](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerund) form "[be] seeing", which is
what you found interesting. After that, 「は」 is just 「は」.
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2011-06-19T06:24:24.837
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By putting "の", your are making a nominal group from the proposition that
precedes it, and you put the focus on the action (there is a nuance with "こと",
which takes practice to feel). Then, since you made a nominal group, you need
your usual particles after, such as は、 に、 or whatever is required.

Examples:  
ケーキを食べるのが好きです。  
I like to be eating a cake. (The fun is in the eating.)

ケーキを食べることが好きです。  
I like to eat cakes. (Generality. I like cakes.)

外で子供が遊んでいるのにじゃまされました。  
I have been disturbed by children playing outside. (The playing is the reason
of the disturbance)
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2011-06-20T01:31:25.433
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answer
we use の when we are talking about the verb. It is like "to" or "-ing" in
English.
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2011-06-25T00:00:31.983
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answer
Actually both forms are correct. の is a recent development in Japanese, before
it appeared, you'd use the 連体形(行く/熱い/綺麗な[る]/食べた[る]) directly before particles.
An example can be seen here:

> 今宵は夜毎にこゝに集ひ來る骨牌（かるた）仲間も「ホテル」に宿りて、舟に殘れる* **は** *余一人のみなれば。
>
> 森鴎外 「舞姫」

You should still use の, though.
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2011-07-15T08:38:52.517
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answer