부지런해서가 - what is the function of 가?

As in title.

I am reading 게으름 from the TalkToMeInKorean Iyagi series. The sentence fragment is: “사실 부지런해서가 아니라”

What is the role of ‘가’ after this verb?

It has to do with the usage pattern of the verbs corresponding to “be” in English.

There are three distinct cases of “be”:

  1. (existence) 책이 있다 = There is a book. (special verb 있다)
    2A. (description) 나는 즐겁다 = I am happy. (no special verb is needed)
    2B. (coupling) 나는 학생이다 = I am a student. (special verb 이다)

And here are negations of them.

  1. 책이 없다 = There is no book. (special verb 없다)
    2A. 나는 즐겁지 않다 = I am not happy. (special verb 않다 = 아니하다).
    2B. 나는 학생이 아니다 = I am not a student. (special verb 아니다).

So for “AA is not BB” where BB is a noun, we have the form BB(이/가) 아니다.
This 이/가 is almost (but not exactly) the same as 이/가 as a subject marker.

And the BB part can take a more involved construct too.
For example, it can be a conjugated form of a verb, like 부지런해서.

We can consider these cases:

  1. 나는 부지런하다 = I am diligent.
  2. 그것은 내가 부지런해서이다 = It is because I am diligent (~해서 is “because …” in this context).
  3. 그것은 내가 부지런하지 않아서이다 = It is because I am NOT diligent.
  4. 그것은 내가 부지런해서가 아니다 = It is NOT because I am diligent.

가 after 부지런해서 in #4 is functionally the same as 이 in 나는 학생이 아니다.
It is needed to turn 부지런해서 into a noun phrase to function as 아니다’s complement.

To have a different nuance, 은/는 can be used too, as in 부지런해서는 아니다.

In either case, the particles are almost never omitted when they work with 아니다.

Some similar advanced constructs involving 이다 and 아니다.

  • 내가 그를 만난 것은 이 말을 해 주기 위해서였다. It was to tell him this that I met him.
  • 내가 그를 만난 것은 이 말을 해 주기 위해서만은 아니었다. It wasn’t only to tell him this that I met him.
  • 위해서 + 만(only) + 이(for 아니다).
  • 일을 하는 것은 생활을 유지해야 하기 때문이다. The reason we work is because we have to make a living.
  • 일을 하는 것은 생활을 유지해야 하기 때문이 아니다. The reason we work is not because we have to make a living.
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