notes

• 「もの」 is for concrete things and 「こと」 is for abstract things (usually)
  • ex: 「愛は素晴らしいものだ。」
    • 「もの」 is describing the abstract concept of 「愛」, but 「愛」 is still a noun so 「もの」 is still used
• ex: 「日本に行ったことがある。」 means “I have been to Japan.” (“The fact of my having been to Japan exists.”)
• ex: 「日本に行くことがある。」 means “I go to Japan.” (“The fact of my going to Japan exists.”)
• ex: 「どんな人にも失敗することがある。」 means “Everybody makes mistakes.” (“Whatever kind of person it may be, the thing of doing mistakes exists.”)
• adding 「ものだ」 to the end of a logical clause states that the content of that clause is real thing
  • ex: 「冬は寒いものだ。」 means “Winter is cold (and that’s a thing that we just have to accept or come to terms with).”
• ex: 「希望のある所には必ず試練があるものだ。」 means “Where there is hope, there is always a test.”
• ex: 「子供の頃には、よくこちらに来たものだ。」 means “When I was a child, I often used to come to this place.”
• ex: 「東京に行ったことがある。」 versus 「東京に行ったものだ。」
  • the 「がある」 sentence is a literal statement (“The fact of having gone to Tokyo exists.”)
  • the 「ものだ」 sentence has more emotional weight (“I used to go to Tokyo.” or “Going to Tokyo was a thing that used to happen.”)
• 「こと」 at the end of a sentence is used to mark rules and regulations
  • ex: 「１何何こと」 means “Rule 1: “

    resources

• youtube