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“はっきりとしてくれないわたしが好きな人”より“はっきりとしているわたしを好きな人”を憎からず

はっきりとして=Be clear
くれない=not give to me
わたしが好きな人=The person I like

[はっきりとしてくれない]>わたしが好きな人 so はっきりとしてくれない modifies わたし
or
はっきりとしてくれない modifies 人
The person who I like which is not clear with me.

はっきりとしている=Is clear
わたしを好きな人=The person who likes me

[はっきりとしている]>わたしを好きな人 so はっきりとしている modifies わたし
or
はっきりとしている modifies 人
The person who clearly likes me.

What is modifying what?

I believe it's the second option in both cases tough.

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1 Answers1

2

"Xが好きな人" is ambiguous and means both "the person who likes X" and "The person X likes", but in this contest, it's obviously used in the first sense (see comments below).

Actually, わたしが好きな人 and わたしを好きな人 are the same here. Both noun phrases inside the quotes are about "the person who likes me (who is はっきりとしている or していない)", not "the person I like".

The verb はっきりとする means "to show a clear/definite stance", "to say things clearly".

  • ([はっきりとしてくれない]わたし) が好きな人 = the person who likes (私 who doesn't say things clearly).
  • ([はっきりとしている]わたし) を好きな人 = the person who likes (私 who says things clearly).

EDIT: As @goldhick and @marasai pointed out in the comment section, this sentence can still make sense if the first noun phrase means "the person I like". I didn't notice such an interpretation is possible.

If the first phrase means "the person who likes me", as described above, the whole sentence essentially means "I'd love a person who loves me because I'm a kind of person who says things clearly".

If the first phrase means "the person I like":

  • [はっきりとしてくれない] (わたしが好きな人) = (the person whom I like) [who doesn't show a definite stance toward me]
  • [はっきりとしている] (わたしを好きな人) = (the person who likes me) [obviously]

The whole sentence essentially means "I'd choose someone who definitely loves me, rather than loving someone who may not love me." If this is the case, はっきりとしている in the last phrase is used differently from the others.

Choose whichever matches the context.

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  • Why do you say that the first surely means the person who likes me? I tought that for the first person you used が　私は彼が好き　and for others you used を　彼は私を好き.

    The context make the first sentence seem like:"The person who I like which is not clear with me. " Since she is talking about she could settle for someone who surely liked here instead of someone she likes but can't be clear with her.

    Could it also be correct?

    Also reading that thread 「僕のことが好きな人」. is the better way to say "The person who likes me" apparently.

     – Splikie Nov 30 '15 at 22:17
  • ～が好き and ～を好き are interchangeable in some relateive clauses, and they doesn't sound differently to me. I believe the person who wrote this was even unaware that she happened to use the different particles. And comparing "the person I like" and "the person who likes me" in a single sentence is weird. – naruto Nov 30 '15 at 22:29
  • Hmm... pardon my butting in, but it looks to me that the writer used the different particles が and を quite intentionally, to specifically avoid that ambiguity and play up the contrast.

    It's "someone I like who doesn't show his love clearly" vs. "someone who likes me and shows his love clearly", and the writer is, maybe somewhat to her own surprise, finding herself more attracted to the latter. That's how I take it at least.

     – goldbrick Nov 30 '15 at 23:24
  • あいまいな文章ですが、the same ではないと思います。この文は「私が片思いしている（あるいは私が惚れていて、セフレ関係にある）けれども、付き合うかフるか（結婚してくれるか否か）、煮え切らない相手」より、「私は大して思っていないけれども、付き合おう（結婚しよう）と積極的にアタックをしてくる、私のことを愛してくれる相手」を選ぶという話をしているのではないでしょうか？ – marasai Dec 01 '15 at 04:59
  • ああ、「不確実な誰かを愛するより、確実に誰かに愛されたい」みたいな話ですか？　そういう解釈もあるのかも。ただ本当に曖昧なので文脈依存だと思います… – naruto Dec 01 '15 at 05:25
  • @marasai この解釈で合ってますか？　個人的に、2個の「はっきりとする」が違う意味で使われているのが気持ち悪いですが… – naruto Dec 01 '15 at 06:19
  • @marasai She has feelings for the protagonist but he is unclear with her. Also there is a boy who is hitting on her that she does not like but might fall for since she could settle for him. – Splikie Dec 01 '15 at 08:23
  • @goldhick That is my interpretation too. – Splikie Dec 01 '15 at 08:23
  • @naruto I think too the passive could have been used but maybe the author wanted to put some emphasis. – Splikie Dec 01 '15 at 08:24
  • @Splikie Great, then goldhick and marasai are correct. – naruto Dec 01 '15 at 08:32