Purpose of のは in this sentence?


What is the purpose of のは in the sentence “今浮かんだのは”? The context is, I asked
someone what their favorite English word was and they said “Hmm 今浮かんだのは
bullshit. Just kidding!”

Would the translation be “I just came up with ‘bullshit’”? I don’t understand
the grammar used here. Please help, thanks!




> You: "What's your favorite English word?"
>
> Guy: “Hmm 今[浮]{う}かんだ **の** は 'bullshit'. Just kidding!”

「の」 here means " **(the) one** ", which of course refers to his favorite
English word.

「は」 is the regular topic marker.

By attaching a 「の」 to 「浮かんだ」, 「浮かんだ **の** 」 can now be treated just like a
noun -- " **the one that just came to mind** ". That is why you can attach the
topic marker 「は」 directly to 「浮かんだの」. You following me?

> Would the translation be “ **I just came up with ‘bullshit’** ”?

If you want it to be, yes, but that is not what it means literally. The
grammatical subject of the original is "今浮かんだの" and not an unmentioned first-
person pronoun. You used "I" in your TL.

Once again, the original reply means:

> "The one that just came to mind is 'bullshit'."

