Expressions with こと
The nominalizer こと appears in many grammatical structures, and in all the structures showcased in this lesson, it has no interchangeability with the nominalizer の. So, as you go through each structure, this will be a great opportunity to better internalize these two nominalizers and how they are fundamentally different.
～ことがある: Experience(S) One Has
When こと follows a verbal predicate, either in the non-past form or the past form, it indicates experiences one has. The difference tense plays determines whether said experience is one that one “(often) has” or “has had.”
| Vnon-past + ～ことがある | agent (often) does/experiences doing… |
| Vpast + ～ことがある | agent has/have done… (before) |
In practice, ～たことがある is more practically translated as “has/have…” as in having done something before—an experience that is unequivocally in the past as an experience had. Meaning, this pattern may not be used to reflect the present perfect use of “have” like in “I have done my work,” in which the speaker may be referring to actions that they have just completed. ～たことがある should also NOT be misconstrued as a wordier replacement of plain past tense, either.
i. きのう、日本語を勉強したことがある。X
Intended: Yesterday, I studied Japanese.
ii. 仕事をやったことがある。??
Intended: I have done my work.
Actual Meaning: I have done a job.
iii. 営業事務の仕事をやったことがある。
I have worked in sales administration (before).
Particle Note: Whether が, は, も, or no particle at all is used in this structure is ultimately determined by the intended nuancing of the statement. With the particle は, the experience (being) had is being contrasted with other scenarios. With the particle も, the experience (being) had is in addition to other stated experiences. No particle being used is indicative of casual speech in which case the added nuances provided by は・も are not relevant as well as が’s own exhaustive-listing nuancing being irrelevant.
While it may go without saying, this construct can be used in negative sentences, in which case ある conjugates to its respective negative forms.
iv. 北京ダックを食べたことがない。
I have not had Peking duck (before).
It must also be noted that Vnon-past before こと may also be in the negative, and it is even possible for ある to be in the negative in tandem. However, each scenario is distinctly different.
v. それほど頻繁に食べることはないかもしれませんが、高塩分の食品の摂取量が多いと、胃癌リスクが高まりますよ。
Although you may not eat them that frequently, high intake of salty foods will increase your risk of stomach cancer.
vi. 鶏肉は、食べないことはないですが、あまり好きではありませんね。
While it’s not that I don’t ever eat chicken, I don’t really care for it.
While conjugating verbs into plain/polite and affirmative/negative forms should not be problematic by this point, here are the relevant forms of ある with the structure ～ことがある.
| Plain | Polite | |
| Affirmative | ～ことがある | ～ことがあります |
| Negative | ～ことがない | ～ことがないです ～ことがありません |
| Past※ | ～ことがあった | ～ことがありました |
| Negative Past※ | ～ことがなかった | ～ことがなかったです ～ことがありませんでした |
※While Japanese does not exhibit tense agreement, there are instances in which the pattern ～ことがある utilizes ～た for both the verb こと attaches to and ある, or even just the past tense marker on ある itself (see Exs. 14-17).
1. 富士山に登った1こともありますか。
Have you also climbed Mt. Fuji before?
2. マシュマロ入りのホットチョコレートを飲んだことがありますか。
Have you ever had hot chocolate with marshmallows?
3. 雲が多くなる時間2もあるが、雨が降ることはない。
There are times when it gets cloudy, but it will never rain.
4. 夏場でも鍋物を食べることがある。
Even during summertime, I (often) have hotpot.
5. 映画では同じようなアイデアが何度も繰り返し使われることが多い3ので、似たようなシーンを別の映画で見かけることがあるかもしれない。
In movies, similar ideas are used over and over again a lot, so you may often encounter similar scenes (to what you have seen) in other films.
6. 久しぶりに訪れた場所で道に迷うことがあります。
I often get lost when I visit places I haven’t been in a while.
7. 基本的に引き篭もっているのですが、休日に母と買い物に行くことがある。
I basically stay at home, but sometimes I go shopping with my mother on the weekends.
8. 「香港に行ったことがあるの？」「一度行ったことがあるよ。」
“Have you been to Hong Kong before?” “I’ve been there once.”
9. 歯磨きをしないで寝たことがありますか。
Have you ever gone to sleep without brushing your teeth?
10. ラーメンを食べたことある？
Have you ever had ramen?
11. 歌舞伎を観たことはありますか。
Have you seen kabuki before?
12. 外国人に日本語を教えたことがあります。
I have taught Japanese to foreigners before.
13. あまり気にすることはないよ。
There really isn’t anything to worry about.
As for when ～たことがあった is used, an experience “that had been had, or “had not been had” in the negative, is mentioned as a retelling of the past. At times, this could be done as an attempt to confirm such event occurred, either to oneself or to whoever might be listening.
14. この場所で子供のころ、よく遊んだんだよ。あの滑り台の上から飛び降りて怪我をしたことがあったな。
I used to play here a lot as a kid. I once jumped off the top of that slide and got hurt.
15. 娘の父親は東京の江戸川区で育って幼稚園へ通ったことがあったが、母親の私のほうは、幼稚園へ行かなかった。
My daughter’s father grew up in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, and had gone to kindergarten, but I, her mother, did not go to kindergarten.
Similarly, Vnon-past+ ～ことがあった is used when the speaker is retelling common occurrences, or lack thereof when in the negative, from the past.
16. 母だって子守唄を歌うことがあっただろうが、思い出せない。
I’m sure my mother of all people sometimes sang lullabies to me, but I can’t remember.
17. 毎年きっと１冊か２冊、ときには三冊も四冊も出版することがあった。
Ever year, I would publish one or two books, sometimes three or four.
Insofar, we have only see situations in which the verb used with ～ことがある indicates the volition of an agent (doer). However, When there is no agent, the structure ought to be interpreted as indicating what “may (often) be the case.”
18. 届出に不備などがあると加入手続きが遅れることがあるのでご注意ください。
Please note that if there are any issues in your filing, the enrollment process may be delayed.
19. 何か相手の気に入らないことがあったとしか思えませんね。
The only thing I can think of is that there must’ve been something that didn’t bode well with the other person.
～ことがある w/ Adjectival Predicates
One leap away from non-volitional verbs would be adjectival predicates. In fact, adjectives and adjectival nouns may also be used with ～ことがある for describing having (had) experiences in a certain situation, tense dynamics permitting. Arguably more care must be taken to ensure that the context is not best described with the past tense, however, as the context at had must still be understood as “experience(s) in which such a state is/was so” as opposed to simply stating that “something was so.” The latter situation would be within the domain of the past tense.
20. この先、楽しいことがあるとは思えません。
I just can’t see there being anything fun to be had in the future.
21. アボカドの熟成の見極めは難しいですねえ。私も切ってみたら、すごく硬かったことがあります。
It sure is hard to judge the ripeness of an avocado, huh. I once cut into one that was really hard.
22. ときどき大変なこともあるけど、ポジティブに考えるようにしているよ。
It can be hard at times, but I try to think positively.
23. 単品だと５００円なんだけど、以前はもうちょっと安かったことがあったの。
It’s 500 yen à la carte, sure, but I had bought it a little cheaper than that in times past.
24. 怖そうな人でも優しいこともあるんだよ。
Even scary people are sometimes nice.
25. 北多摩は神奈川県だったことがある。
Kita Tama has once been (in) Kanagawa Prefecture.
NON-REMODELED CONTENT BELOW
～ことにする・こととする： To decide.
26. あいつを忘れることにしただけさ。(Very colloquial)
I’ve just decided to just forget that guy.
27. 私はお酒を飲むのをやめることとしました。 (Slightly formal)
I have decided to quit drinking liquor.
～ことにしている shows that one makes a routine of doing something or that one is determined/has a strong commitment to doing something.
28. 毎日カルピスを飲むことにしています。
I’ve made it a rule to drink Calpis every day.
29. 英語では話さないことにしています。
I’ve made it a rule not to speak in English.
～ことになる・こととなる: To be decided
30. 今年日本に行くことになりました。
It has been decided that I will go to Japan this year.
31. 新製品は５月１０日に発表することになりました。
It has been decided that we will announce the new product on May 10th.
- 山を登る, while grammatically valid, does not mean the same thing as 山に登る. In this scenario, を functions as a transition marker, indicating that the mountain is not, per se, what is being climbed, but a point along one’s hiking journey. ↩︎
- This example exemplifies are こと in this pattern may be replaced with similar yet concrete nouns like 時間・時 (time). ↩︎
- This example exemplifies two things: that the pattern ～ことがある can be used with passive verbs and that ある can be replaced with similar words such as 多い (for there to be a lot of…). With this in mind, [高塩分の食品の摂取量] from v. may also be viewed as a paraphrasing of [Verb + ～こと]. ↩︎