�@Only in this usage "koto"can be replaced with "no"

But when some particular words come as a predicate, only "no" can be

used.

I"ll tell about this later.

ex) Watashi wa yakyuu o miru koto/no ga suki desu.

(I like to watch a baseball game.)

Shiai ni maketa koto/no wa zannen da

(It is regretted that we lost the game.)

Saifu o taxi ni wasureta koto/no ni kigatsuita.

(I found that I had left my purse in the taxi.)

Kanojo wa nihon ryouri o tsukuru koto/no ga jyouzu desu.

(She is good at cooking Japanese food.)

Kodomo no koro yoku soto de asonda koto/no o oboeteiru.

(I remember that when I was a child I would play outside. )

�A when the "koto" phrase or clause comes last in the sentence,

" Koto"can't be replaced with "no"

ex ) Kare no yume wa seijika ni naru koto desu.

( His dream is to be a politician.)

Watashi no syumi wa kitte o atsumeru koto desu.

( My hobby is to collect stamps.)

※A student wrote the following sentence,

"Watashi no yume wa seijika ni naritai desu."

Of course this is wrong. The first part of the sentence doesn't correspond

to the last part of the sentence. The correct sentence is

"Watashi no yume wa seijika ni naru koto desu

or Watashi wa seijika ni naritai desu."

Many students often make this kind mistake, so when you write a

sentence, please make sure what is a subject and a predicate.

preceding words or modifier.)

ex) Kyou shinakereba naranai koto wa ashita ni mawasanai.

( Never fail to do what you should do today.)

Anata no shitteiru koto o zenbu hanashite kudasai.

(Tell me all that you know.)

Anata no yatta koto wa tadashii.

( What you have done is right.)

Kyou wa tanoshii koto bakari atta.

(I have a lot of happy things today.)

Kenkou de aru toiu koto wa totemo taisetsuna koto da.

(It is very important to be healthy.)

Sonna koto o shitara kare ga okoru no wa touzen no koto da.

(It's natural that he gets angry if you do such a thing.)

Kodomo no koro no koto o omoidasu.

(I remember the days in my childhood.)

Sensou de takusan no kodomotachi ga shinda. Hontou ni hidoi koto da.

(Many children were killed in the war. How terrible it was!)

※ In some sentences we hardly distinguish between usage 1 and 2.

ex)Kare ga hanashita koto o shitteimasu.

A) When we think of this "koto" as in usage 1, it means that I know the fact

that he said something.

B) when we think of this "koto" as in usage 2, it means that I know what he said.

(In the sentence A koto can be replaced with no, but sentence B

can not.)

3. Idiomatic expressions.

1) 〜koto desu, koto da

�@suggestion or advice

Kenkou ni naritakattara undou suru koto da.

( If you want to be healthy, you should exercise.)

Hito no warukuchi wa iwanai koto da.

( You shouldn't speak ill of others.)

Kanojo to kekkon shitakattara motto issyoukenmei hataraku koto da.

�Aexplanation（〜towa/nowa 〜koto desu)

Pasokon to wa personal computer no koto desu.

( Pasokon means a personal computer.)

Issyoukenmei benkyousuru no wa ii koto da.

( It is good to study hard.)

Tsuyu to iunowa nihon no uki no koto da.

("Tsuyu means the rainy season in Japan.

Watashi wa kuruma o untensuru koto ga dekimasu.

(I can drive a car.)

Kare wa eigo to furansugo o hanasu koto ga dekiru.

( He is able to speak English and French.)

Watashi wa mae ni kono machi ni kita koto ga aru.

( I've been to this town before.)

Kanojo wa ichido fujisan ni nobotta koto ga aru.

(She has climbed Mt.Fuji once.)

Kare wa iyana taido o toru koto ga aru.

( He can be very unpleasant at times.)

Ooame wa kozui o okosu koto ga ru.

(There is some possibility that heavy rain causes a flood.

Kono hen dewa oukii jishin ga okiru koto ga aru.)

(There is some possibility of a big earthquake in this area.)

※Kono hen dewa mettani jishin ga okiru koto wa nai.(negative sentence ---koto wa nai)

（There is little possibility of a big earthquake in this area.）

Kare wa namakemono dakara syukudai o tetsudatte ageru koto wa nai.

( He is so idle that you don't have to help him with his homework.)

Moshi ame nara kuru koto wa arimasen.

( If it rains , you don't have to come.)

Kokode tabako o suwanai koto.

( Don't smoke here.)

Koko ni jyusyo to shimei o kinyuu suru koto

( Enter both full name and address.)

Kare wa kyou koko e konai to no koto desu.

( I heard that he wouldn't come here.)

Rainen kara syouhizei ga agaru to no koto da.

( They say that the consumer tax will go up next year.)

Kimi no iu touri ni suru koto wa suru ga sekininn wa motenai yo.

( I'll do as you say, but I won't accept responsibility for it.)

Odoroita koto ni(wa) minnna sono koto o shitteita.

(To our surprise everybody knew it.)

Wazuka 16sai de winbuldon de yuusyou suru nante , nante subarashii koto.

Ma, kawaii akachan da koto!

(How cute the baby is!)

Mata omeni kakareru nante, nante ureshii koto ka.

(I am glad to see you again.)

Hanashi aite ga inai to iu nowa donnani sabishii koto ka.

(I know how lonely it is that you have no friend to talk to.

"no"

Is used to nominalize the previous clause. In the folloing usages they are not replaced with koto.

1.Emphasis

Sakki kita no wa kare no otouto da.

(It is his brother that came a little while ago.)

Watashitachi ga hajimete atta no wa kyonen no haru deshita ne.

( It was last spring that we met for the first time.)

Kinou gakkou o yasunda no wa netsu ga atta kara desu.

(The reason why I was absent from school yesterday is that

I was in bed with a fever.)

2. Object clause of a perception verb such as see, watch, hear ,listen to ,feel or so on.

Tori ga naiteiru no ga kikoeru.

(I hear the birds singing.)

Kodomotachi ga kouen de yakyu o shiteiru no ga mieru.

(We can see the children playing basaball in the park.)

Ushiro ni dareka tatteiru no o kanjiru.

(I feel somebody standing behind me.)

3.Object of a verb such as help, wait, yameru or so on..

Chichi ga ryouri o tsukuru no o tetsudatta.

(I helped my father to cook.)

Kare no tegami ga kuru no o matteiru.

( I'm waiting for a letter from him.)

Raigetsu ryokou suru no o yameta.

( I gave up traveling next month.)

Terebi o miru no wa mou yamenasai.

(Stop watching TV from now on.)

4.Purpose of use (The words such as benrida, hitsuyouda, kakaru, tsukau ,kurousuru and etc. come as predicate.)

Kono houchou wa niku o kiru no ni ii.

(This knife is good to cut meat.)

Kono kaban wa gaikoku ryokou ni iku no ni benrida.

( This bag is convenient to travel abroad.)

Apart o kariru no ni 5manen kakaru.

(It takes 50.000 yen to rent this room.)

Kore wa kami o someru no ni tsukau.

(This is used to dye hair.)

Nihon no syuukan ni nareru no ni kurou shimashita.

(I had a hard time to get accustomed to Japanese customs. )

Qestion : Where is wrong in the following sentences?

１、 Ima watashi ga komatte iru nowa, heya ga nakanaka karirarenai desu.

２、 Kono hasami wa kami o kiru koto ni tsukau.

３、 Konogoro shougakusei ga soto de asondeiru koto o amari minai.

* Please send us your Japanese sentences using "koto". We will check and return it.

Send it!

(Answer)1 karirarenai koto desu 2 kiru no ni 3 asondeiru no o

---

We are expert Japanese teachers. We are confident that this article is good and useful for foreign learners of Japanese. But I'm afraid our English is not so good. When you find any spelling or grammatical mistakes, please let me know.
We also offer private lessons for students of all levels.
Please call us. Tel:03-3425-2478 (Matsuyama)

---

For more information , please call us. TEL:03-3425-2478(Matsuyama)
EMAIL:BXK04364@niftyserve.ne.jp , o1779uma@ca2.so-net.ne.jp
/// JAPAN CULTURE STUDY GROUP ///

---

RETURN TO COVER

---