Missing noun in sentence using ほど


> 動物王国のムツゴロウさんちの娘になってもいいと思うほど、動物好きなまる子だが、... Maruko is a fan of animals to the
> extent that she thinks it's okay to become the daughter of _something to do
> with animal kingdoms and mud skippers_

Whilst I'm fascinated to know what 動物王国のムツゴロウさんち is all about, my primary
question is about the structure of the sentence.

There seems to be a noun missing. If I had tried to put this in Japanese I
would have written:

> ...ほど、まる子は動物がすきだが...  
>  to the extent that ... Maruko likes animals

But the original sentence is

> to the extent that ... Maruko (who is an animal fan) is xxx?

where xxx is missing.

Is my alternative sentence correct? How can I understand the grammar of the
original sentence?




First of all, who is 「動物王国{どうぶつおうこく}のムツゴロウさん」? He is a very well-known and
highly popular figure in Japan. When the older half of the country hear the
word "animals", they think of him. I will just let Wiki explain below. It even
talks about what his 「動物王国」 is about.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanori_Hata>

Next, just a brief explanation of 「動物好{どうぶつず}きなまる子」. For those unfamiliar, the
「好き」 part in this phrase, is read 「 **ず** き」 and not 「 **す** き」.

For reading comprehension, I recommend that one regard 「動物好きな」 as just an
adjective meaning " ** _animal-loving_** ". So, we have a "animal-loving
Maruko" here.

I think many are already familiar with this, but 「～～さん **ち** 」 means "~~'s
home", "~~'s family", etc. The 「ち」 comes from 「うち」.

Now, you called 「動物王国のムツゴロウさんちの娘になってもいいと思うほど、動物好きなまる子だが、...」 a sentence, but
is it one? **_Grammatically, no, because it lacks a predicate_**. If the
author actually ended this with the "...", however, then it is an "honorary"
sentence. **_To make it as literal as possible_** , it means:

> "It is Maruko who loves animals to the extent that she would not mind
> becoming the daughter of Mr. Mutsugoro of the Animal Kingdom."

The TL might sound awkward because I translated, as I said, a non-sentence
that does not even have a predicate.

Even a one-step more literal translation would be:

> "Maruko who loves animals so much that she would not mind becoming the
> daughter of Mr. Mutsugoro of the Animal Kingdom, but ......"

There you could see what I mean by "non-sentence" and "no predicate". It says
nothing about what Maruko actually did.

In any case, you seem to have a good grip on the phrase in question. It is a
good sign that you felt something was missing.




First of all, who is 「動物王国{どうぶつおうこく}のムツゴロウさん」? He is a very well-known and
highly popular figure in Japan. When the older half of the country hear the
word "animals", they think of him. I will just let Wiki explain below. It even
talks about what his 「動物王国」 is about.

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanori_Hata>

Next, just a brief explanation of 「動物好{どうぶつず}きなまる子」. For those unfamiliar, the
「好き」 part in this phrase, is read 「 **ず** き」 and not 「 **す** き」.

For reading comprehension, I recommend that one regard 「動物好きな」 as just an
adjective meaning " ** _animal-loving_** ". So, we have a "animal-loving
Maruko" here.

I think many are already familiar with this, but 「～～さん **ち** 」 means "~~'s
home", "~~'s family", etc. The 「ち」 comes from 「うち」.

Now, you called 「動物王国のムツゴロウさんちの娘になってもいいと思うほど、動物好きなまる子だが、...」 a sentence, but
is it one? **_Grammatically, no, because it lacks a predicate_**. If the
author actually ended this with the "...", however, then it is an "honorary"
sentence. **_To make it as literal as possible_** , it means:

> "It is Maruko who loves animals to the extent that she would not mind
> becoming the daughter of Mr. Mutsugoro of the Animal Kingdom."

The TL might sound awkward because I translated, as I said, a non-sentence
that does not even have a predicate.

Even a one-step more literal translation would be:

> "Maruko who loves animals so much that she would not mind becoming the
> daughter of Mr. Mutsugoro of the Animal Kingdom, but ......"

There you could see what I mean by "non-sentence" and "no predicate". It says
nothing about what Maruko actually did.

In any case, you seem to have a good grip on the phrase in question. It is a
good sign that you felt something was missing.

