Questions tagged [particle-こと]
29 questions
12
votes
2 answers
What do I do when I encounter "Written Japanese"?
I have read in grammar dictionaries some words/phrases that are labelled as "Written Japanese" and should not be used in normal speech.
Let's take for example the sentence-ending こと indicating a command:
プールサイドを走らないこと。 "Do not run on the pool…
Flaw
- 19,716
- 8
- 63
- 167
7
votes
1 answer
こと (Must Do) Confusion
I often see こと used when listing rules:
冷蔵庫の物は勝手に食べないこと→ Don’t eat my things from the fridge
トイレ掃除は毎日交代ですること→ Clean the bathroom every day by turns
The above examples come from a written list of rules a character in a drama made for his…
Daphne
- 423
- 2
- 11
5
votes
1 answer
Dummy noun, to add or not to add
Most of the time (?) a following dummy noun is required when the speaker wants to put a 用言 where a 体言 is expected, as shown by the sentence below:
できないのをできないというのに、不思議があるもんか。
However, it seems that sometimes a 用言 on its own can function as a 体言,…
null
- 1,611
- 8
- 18
4
votes
2 answers
Why is こと used in 「私に何かできること」？
How does it turn this into a noun clause? All I get from it is “I can do something” but I don’t see where こと fits in.
jacoballens
- 1,551
- 6
- 20
4
votes
1 answer
The nuance of "こと" in "まもなく雪が降ってくることでしょう"
As mentioned in the title, I want to ask the nuance of "こと" in this sentence：
まもなく雪が降ってくることでしょう。
and the possible conditions or reasons that people won't just simply put it as:
まもなく雪が降ってくるでしょう。
chika
- 829
- 4
- 11
4
votes
2 answers
こと as an Imperative
I just came across the grammar being metioned here http://japanesetest4you.com/flashcard/learn-jlpt-n3-grammar-%e3%81%93%e3%81%a8-koto/.
It states yet another way to form the imperative.
To my surprise I cannot find any related info for this on…
Michael
- 241
- 2
- 10
3
votes
2 answers
How to translate nominalised adjectives from Japanese to English (e.g. スイスがきれいなこと)
I am currently struggling with wrapping my head around こと and how it nominalises adjectives/sentences with adjectives to turn them into noun phrases.
With verbs, it's easy:
べんとうを食べる (I eat bento/I will eat bento)
べんとうを食べること ((the act of) eating…
Luke McAloon
- 537
- 2
- 7
2
votes
1 answer
What does こと mean after a conjugated verb?
I don't understand what こと means in this sentence:
こんな 恐ろしい 事 は 聞いた こと が ない。
I initially thought it was a nominalizer, but nominalizers must be used with verbs at the neutral form, and also, only the nominalizer の but not こと can be used…
Starckman
- 741
- 2
- 10
2
votes
2 answers
Nominalization and conjugated form
As far as I understood, the nominalization is made with the neutral form of the verb followed by の or こと, as in the example
私は読むことが好きです。I like to read.
Though, I found this example where the verb is conjugated.
この本は、読んだことがありますか ? Have you ever…
Starckman
- 741
- 2
- 10
2
votes
1 answer
Using 「という」to describe things
I was learning about how we can use 「という」to describe things and I saw the following example:
日本人{にほんじん}はお酒{さけ}に弱{よわ}いというのは本当{ほんとう}？
And my question is, what is the use of 「という」when used to describe this type of things? Wouldn't this phrase be…
Eduardo Magalhães
- 121
- 1
- 1
- 3
2
votes
1 answer
Use of こと in this dictionary entry
I was looking up the word "出席" (attendance) in a Japanese dictionary, and found the following definition:
学校の授業や会合などに出ること。
From my understanding, I assume こと is added as a normalizer is so that "出る (to turn up/ to appear)" becomes a noun "出ること…
Thecie
- 103
- 4
2
votes
1 answer
What's the grammatical function of こと in this sentence?
電車の中などで見る最近の若い者の態度の悪いこと、全く不愉快極まる。
I believe 全く不愉快極まる is the predicate and the rest before the comma is the subject, but I don't understand how the two parts are connected by こと. Could you help me figure it out?
NoNames
- 971
- 5
- 10
2
votes
2 answers
1
vote
1 answer
Why is もの used in 「無駄に使ってしまうもの」 (instead of こと)?
In
お金というものはあったらあったで無駄に使ってしまうものだ。
Money is something that when you have it, you end up wasting it.
the phrase 「無駄に使ってしまう」 ("used towards waste!") is used to modify もの。
Question: Isn't "the act of using money wastefully" an abstract sort of thing?…
George
- 2,137
- 1
- 13
1
vote
1 answer
Difference between ことが and ことは
What is the difference in the meanings of the following sentences when 事がある is replaced with 事はある?
週末はたいてい家で休んでいるがたまに公園に行く事がある。
週末はたいてい家で休んでいるがたまに公園に行く事はある。
I could find the grammar form ことがある in books and the internet but nothing for ことはある.
timemanx
- 113
- 3