[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

heys thanks for the explanation on て-form + くる/いる

as for "if we were to say "Mr.A became X, Y, Z", do we need to repeat なる 3 times (once for X, once for Y, and once for Z). ", if XYZ are not nouns but adjectives (like became taller, bigger, etc), must we conjugate each individual adjective with なる?
(this is what i have now: 去年から背が高くなって体が大きくなってきたね)

My sense is that yes, because here you have two subjects, so you must have two predicates. One subject is 背 (because it's followed by the subject particle が), and the other is 体 (for the same reason). Thus, you need two predicates. This is my sense, anyhow.

However, this is just a glitch in the system because these are stock phrases. I'm sure you're really getting at something more general about listing how Mr. A has taken on traits X, Y, and Z.

Suppose we're talking about a noun A, that has become redder, bigger, and older: Xは大きくて赤くて古くなってきた。

Here, you could just use the て-form of the adjectives to link them. It just doesn't work in your sample sentence because we can't link the adjectives since they're each part of a set phrase (背が高い and 体が大きい).

But again, I'm really guessing here. Maybe you can say 背が高くて体が大きくなってきた。

However, I'm not sure if that sounds more like "I am tall, and my body has gotten bigger" rather than "I have gotten taller and bigger." I'll defer to a native with the hope that I was right but the warning that I may not be.

regarding 「なら」 conditional, will this be a valid sentence: 遅いなら家へ帰らなければなりません

To the best of my knowledge, it is permitted to say い-adj + なら.

However, I think (and I'm a bit weak on the various implications of conditionals) that なら indicates some sort of assumption on the speaker's part. Like "Oh, if you mean if it turns out to be late? Then yeah we've gotta go back home."

Personally I think I would say something like 遅かったら家へ帰らなければならない or 遅ければ家へ帰らなければならない or something. (Or, instead of conjugating 遅い, you might use 遅くなる.) The -ba form is a general conditional form. The -tara form is kind of similar, but they each have their own special uses. I really feel -tara is more conversational, too. The "t" is harder than the "b." But like I've said in another thread, I'm still on my journey to refine my ear to sense when something sounds nicer or not.

as for 「と」 conditional, does it give the "that'll surely happen" feeling.

Yes. AとB means something like "It is natural that B will occur after A" or "If A occurs, B surely follows."

if i were to say this これを食べると絶対許さない, does it sound "stronger" than これを食べるなら絶対許さない or is it that the listener won't really notice the difference.

This question I'll defer to another. I've always felt unsure of using と to make something sound "assured" when it really isn't a natural phenomenon. Personally, I'd not do it, but that's because of my lack of assurance.

I look forward to seeing a skilled person's answer to this question so I can learn, too! I think these were good questions.