Lesson 114 of 126

The lesson

12.2 ～の, ～こと, 〜もの

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Overview

This lesson covers the three nominalizers ～の, ～こと, and ～もの. ～の is personal and broad, ～こと is objective and conceptual, and ～もの refers to concrete physical things.

～の — the most general nominalizer

～の turns a verb or clause into a noun phrase serving the role of a nominalizer or stands in for a noun.

Verb (plain) + の
い-Adjective (plain) + の
な-Adjective + な + の

。

Going to Japan is fun.

。

I like listening to music.

Depending on context, ～の can represent many different concepts:

An activity / event
はしる走るのはたいへん大変です。
Running is hard.
A concrete thing (similar to もの)
あかい赤いのをください。
Please give me the red one.
A fact or situation (similar to こと)
かれ彼がこない来ないのはほんとう本当です。
It’s true that he isn’t coming.
A person
きた来たのはたなか田中さんです。
The one who came was Tanaka.
A time / place
しゅっぱつ出発するのはあす明日です。
The time of departure is tomorrow.
A reason or explanation
おくれた遅れたのはでんしゃ電車のせいです。
The reason I was late is the train.

In many sentences, ～の and ～こと are both grammatically possible. ～の has a more personal feeling to it.

。

Studying Japanese is fun (personal feeling).

。

Studying Japanese is important (general statement).

～こと — abstract, factual, and objective

～こと (こと事) is used when the speaker treats what comes before it as an abstract idea, fact, rule, or generalized activity. Compared to ～の, it sounds less personal, and more objective.

Verb (plain) + こと
い-Adjective (plain) + こと
な-Adjective + な + こと

。

Keeping promises is important.

1. Things, abstract ideas

～こと can refer to ideas, events, or matters in an abstract sense. This will often be translated to English as “thing(s)”.

。

I heard something interesting.

。

I forgot something important.

。

There are many things I don’t know.

2. Talking about general activities (as concepts)

Here, the action is treated as an activity in general, not a specific instance or personal experience.

。

Being punctual is necessary.

。

Not lying is important.

。

Studying every day is the fastest way to improve.

Using ～の in similar sentences shifts the meaning toward personal experience or opinion.

。

Being punctual is hard (from experience).

。

Not lying is difficult (personally).

。

Studying every day is tiring (subjective experience).

3. Referring to facts or information

～こと is very common when referring to known facts, information, or realized truths.

。

I know that he isn’t coming.

。

I heard that there was an accident.

。

It became clear that the exam was postponed.

Some verbs for talking about facts are:

4. Referring to something as a whole entity (～のこと)

～のこと is used to refer to a person or thing as a whole, often including their situation, personality, or background.

。

Do you know about Hanako?

。

I’m worried about him.

。

Leave that matter to me.

5. Formal instructions

～こと is often used to give instructions or rules.

。

Do not take photos here.

。

Knock before entering.

～もの — physical objects and tangible results

～もの is used when the clause refers to a concrete, physical thing.

This is not quite a nominalizer, but it is here for contrast with 〜こと and 〜の

Verb (plain) + もの
い-Adjective (plain) + もの
な-Adjective + な + もの

。

I bought something to eat.

。

Please bring the necessary things.

。

I threw away the broken things.

Summary

Word	What it stands for	Nominalizer role
～の	Situations, experiences, people, time, place, reasons, concrete or abstract things (context-dependent)	Yes — general, personal
～こと	Abstract ideas, facts, rules, general activities, information, matters	Yes — objective, conceptual
～もの	Physical objects, tangible things, concrete results	No — lexical noun meaning “thing”, shown here for contrast

Dialogue

にほんご日本語をべんきょう勉強するのはたのしいです楽しいです。おんがく音楽をきく聞くのがすき好きで、まいにち毎日きいています聞いています。あかい赤いのをください。かれ彼がこない来ないのはほんとう本当だとおもいます思います。やくそくをまもる約束を守ることがたいせつ大切です。じかんをまもる時間を守ることはしゃかい社会のるうるルールです。かれ彼がこない来ないことをしっていました知っていました。じこ事故があったことをききました聞きました。かれ彼のことがしんぱい心配で、なんど何度もでんわ電話しました。はなこ花子のことをもっとよくしりたいです知りたいです。たべる食べるものをちかく近くのすうぱあスーパーでかいました買いました。ひつよう必要なものをりすとリストにかいて書いておきます。

Studying Japanese is fun. I like listening to music and listen every day. Please give me the red one. I think it is true that he is not coming. Keeping promises is important. Being punctual is a rule of society. I knew that he wasn't coming. I heard that there was an accident. I was worried about him and called many times. I want to get to know Hanako better. I bought something to eat at the nearby supermarket. I'll write down the necessary things on a list.

Grammar

Title	Description
～の	～の — nominalizer; turns a verb or clause into a noun phrase (personal and broad)
～こと	～こと — nominalizer; turns a verb or clause into an abstract noun concept (objective)

12.1 This means that …

12.3 〜たことがある, 〜ことがある

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