Breakdown of ruurubukku wa mijikai ni koshita koto wa nai.
はwa
topic particle
短いmijikai
short
〜に 越した こと は ない〜ni koshita koto wa nai
it is best to; nothing is better than
ルールブックruurubukku
Questions & Answers about ruurubukku wa mijikai ni koshita koto wa nai.
Why is the sentence written with spaces? Does Japanese normally do that?
No. In normal Japanese, it would usually be written as:
ルールブックは短いに越したことはない。
The spaces here are just a learning aid to make the parts easier to see.
What does に越したことはない mean?
に越したことはない is a set expression meaning:
- there’s nothing better than ...
- it’s best if ...
- ... is preferable
So ルールブックは短いに越したことはない means something like When it comes to rulebooks, shorter is better or A rulebook is best when it’s short.
Why is it 短いに越したことはない and not 短くに越したことはない?
Because に越したことはない attaches to the plain form of an い-adjective, and 短い is that plain form.
- plain form: 短い
- adverbial form: 短く
This pattern does not take the adverbial 短く here. So 短いに越したことはない is the correct form.
How do you read 越した here?
