Nominalizers: の, こと, & もの
This lesson formally introduces you to the topic of “nominalization,” and specifically through the use of three of the most common nominalizers. First, let’s define both “nominalization” and “nominalizer” for the purpose of this discussion:
- Nominalization: The grammatical process of rendering one part of speech, such as a verb or adjective, or even entire phrases and abstract nouns, into a single nominal phrase that functions as a noun, which may be done out of grammatical necessity or for some other purpose.
- Nominalizer: There are three primary morphemes which may be used to nominalize something: the particle の, こと, and もの. These morphemes are collectively referred to as dummy nouns (形式名詞).
The Nominalizers の and こと
The nominalizers の and こと are both used to nominalize predicates to have them rendered as nouns syntactically, although the degree to which the resultant “noun” is noun-like is limited. At a basic understanding, the nominalizers の and こと semantically differ largely on perceived objectivity/subjectivity of the resultant statement formed.
An objective perspective is one that is not influenced by personal emotions, static in its relationship to truth statements, whereas a subject perspective would (heavily) interject emotional appeal to whatever statement is being made.
Relating all this to these nominalizers, 事 as a standalone noun1, not to be confused with its dummy function used as a nominalizer, can be translated as “matter/thing,” but it can also be translated as “circumstance.” It is this latter translation that serves as a bridging context with its nominalizer function, which is why it appears in so many constructions involving nominalizing verbal/adjectival predicates for the purpose of denoting factual statements from an objective point of view.
1. 見ることは信ずる2ことである。
Seeing is believing.
Judging whether a statement is objective or subjective is not an “all-or-nothing” dynamic. Rather, certain grammatical structures lean one way or another, creating the syntactical and desired emotional framework for what the speaker is aiming to get across. Here, the underlying structure is XはYである. Here, X and Y must both be nouns, and a sense of grammatical parallelism is enforced to make the resultant definition of X as Y. While believing whether “seeing is believing” can be a subjective debate to be had, within the confines of this sentence, こと is used as opposed to の because 見ること and 信ずること are being treated as distinct entities=circumstances that can be defined.
Meanwhile, a more subjective-leaning construction will likely involve the nominalizer の. Although it does derive from the particle の, as a nominalizer, it functions as a dummy noun. just like こと.
2. お二人が会うのは初めてですか。
Is this the first time you two have met?
The speaker (one asking the question) does not the nature of the meeting of the two people in question. Truly, [初めてですか] is an educated guess at best, which speaks to the subjectivity of the statement as a whole. Compare this with Ex. 3, which is objectively clear about the circumstance surrounding [会うこと].
3. 私自身マッチングアプリの男性と会うことは初めてで不安です。
It’s my first time meeting a guy on an dating app, and I’m anxious about it.
Subjectivity is not always about there being an emotional appeal in the sentence. Here, the speaker is speaking about their own experience in the making, and descriptions of one’s own emotions are a reflection of one’s reality. Conjecture regarding that reality would be subjective, but, as is a common theme when debating over whether to use こと or の, is irrelevant in the context of this sentence. In the next set of examples, however, the subjectivity behind the claim made in Ex. 5 starkly differs from the generic, objective statement of fact in Ex. 4.
4. カナダが寒いことに気づいた。(Objective)
I just noticed that Canada is cold.
5. カナダってペンギンも生きれるほど寒いのに気づいたんだ！(Subjective)
I realized that Canada is cold enough for penguins to even live!
Next, for Exs. 6-10, こと is the correct nominalizer. In each sentence, the predicate encased in [] is a concrete circumstance whose truth statement is not contingent on emotional biases.
6. [彼が有名な音楽家だという]ことを知りませんでした。
I didn’t know that he is a famous musician.
7. [彼女が昨夜遅く帰ってきた]ことを知ってた。
I’ve known that she came home late last night.
8. [新鮮な息を吸う]ことは素晴らしい。
Breathing fresh air is wonderful.
9. [警察が今ここにある]ことは疑えない。
You can’t doubt that there are police here now.
10. [歌う]ことは諦めていただけに[偶然（に）初舞台を踏めた]ことはとても嬉しかったです。
Since I had given up singing, being able to debut by chance was very delightful.
For Exs. 11-19, the correct nominalizer is の. The contexts in which の are used are actually more varied than with こと, which is thanks to not being limited to things that are objective statements of reality, which makes it perfect for personal observations that may still be faulty.
11. 恋人たちは一緒にサンバを踊るのをやめました。
The couple stopped dancing the samba together.
12. 教育を受けるのは当たり前だ。
Receiving an education is only natural.
13. 毎日散歩するのは健康にとてもいいようです。
It seems that going for a walk every day is very good for your health.
14. 容疑者がその部屋から慌てて出てくるのを見ましたよ。
I saw the suspect come out flustered from the room.
15. 宿題をしないで授業に来るのはよくないです。
It’s not good to come to class without having done our homework.
16. 彼女の電話番号を調べるのに時間がかかった。
It took a lot of time to find her phone number.
17. 日本が経済大国になれたのは、何と言ってもアメリカのおかげではないと思います。
No matter what they say, I don’t think that Japan was able to become an economic power thanks to America.
18. 単純労働でお金を稼ぐのは大変だ。
It is difficult to earn money by simple labor.
19. 明らかに情報をもう一度目を通すのは当然ですよ。
It’s evident that we clearly look over the information once more.
こと & の As Pronouns
A similar yet different environment in which こと vs の is also apparent is when they act more as pronouns as opposed to (dummy) nouns. Here, instead of objectivity/subjectivity being the deciding factor, how exactly they replace the referent noun is what distinguishes them.
- By using the pronoun の, it is clear within context that it is replacing a concrete noun that is readily inferable in said context.
- By using こと, while it is clear that it means “thing,” what “thing” in particular is in the air, and it is the context that seeks to provide that clarity.
The choice between the two can also affect what sort of structures are used in tandem and how predicates with multiple meanings are ultimately interpreted (Exs. 20-22b.).
20. ドライブ中に聞く曲は、どんなのを聞いていますか。
As for the songs you listen to while driving, what kinds have you been listening to?
21a. 「どんなことを聞きましたか」「亮太君が京都に行ったか聞きました」
What sort of thing did you ask?
22b. 「どんなことを聞きましたか」「亮太君が京都に行っていると聞きました」
What sort of thing did you hear?
23. 生まれたのも育ったの3もニューヨークです。
I was born and raised in New York.
24. 生まれたのは中国だが、国籍はインドネシアだ。
I was born in China, but my nationality is Indonesian.
25. もう一つ君に尋ねたいことがある。
There’s another thing I’d like to ask you about.
26. 先生、もう一つ伺いたいことがあるんですけれども（よろしいですか）。
Sensei, there is one other thing that I would like to ask about. (Is that okay?)
27. あたし、そんなことはいわんかったわ。(Feminine; dialectical)
I didn’t say anything like that!
28. （あなたが）見たことを話してくださいませんか。
Could you tell me what you saw?
29. 彼女のいうことを真に受けたな。
You took her at her word, didn’t you?
Noun + のこと
At a basic understanding, there are two different yet intertwined functions of こと. The first is to focus on a certain action or state as the object of attention. The other is to expand the scope of something to encompass the situation surrounding it. In this latter sense, it abstracts. At face value, this seems like the opposite of focusing. However, this isn’t really the case.
When こと attaches itself to verbs and adjectives, which in both cases could involve an entire sentence, こと packs up these expressions into a noun phrase, making it refer to the action/state at hand. This is the focusing aspect. When it follows a noun, however, it’s following something that is already concrete to some extent. By using こと, which literally means “matter/circumstance,” you are no longer literally talking about the physical entity at hand. Rather, you’re talking about its essence, which is truly the matter at hand.
30. あの事件のことをよく覚えています。
I remember that incident well.
Sentence Note: In this example, the speaker remembers a lot about the incident. If のこと were omitted, the speaker would still remember that the incident happened, but it would not necessarily sound that he/she knows much about the incident.
31. ピザのことをピッツァーと言う人がいます。
There are some people who pronounce “piza” as “pittsā.”
32. この文は現在のことを言っています。
This sentence is talking about the present.
33. 誰の事を指しているんですか。
Who are you referring to?
34. 私たちはまだまだこの大きな地球のことを理解していないのです。
We still do not understand this great planet of ours.
35. 自分のことをどのくらい知っていますか。
How much do you know about yourself?
36. これからのことを考えるのは賢いですね。
It sure is wise to think about the future?
37. 日本語を話せる人の間では常識のことだ。
It’s common sense among Japanese speakers.
38. 僕のことがすき？
Do you like me?
In Ex. 38, the speaker is asking the listener not just that the listener likes “him” in the mere sense of physical attraction. The speaker is asking if that individual likes him at a personal level as well. In the case of 好きだ and 嫌いだ, the use of のこと also helps solve semantic ambiguity between two possible interpretations. If the sentence were just 僕が好き？, it would normally be interpreted as “do you like me?” but it could also mean “Do I like…?” depending on the context. The use of のこと, thus, helps bring clarity to what is the object at hand.
Adverb + ～のこと
Oddly enough, when ～のこと follows adverbs, the resulting phrase is still an adverb, but the emphasis is heightened, as if making the implication of said adverb sound more like a “big deal” than it otherwise would be perceived as.
39. もちろん（のこと）、あいつは失敗した。
Of course that guy failed.]
Adjective + ～こと = Adverb?
長いこと
The phrase 長いこと, literally meaning “being a long (time)” in the context of time, can be used adverbially for a “long time,” much like how “great deal of time” can also be used adverbially in English for the same nuance.
40. 長いこと待つ。
To wait for a long time.
The Nominalizer もの
The nominalizer もの, also seen colloquially as もん, derives from the noun 物, which refers to any thing. Unlike the other nominalizers, the use of もの implies that the statement is undoubtedly true.
41. 油は水に浮くものだ。
Oil floats on water.
42. 子犬になりたいものですわ！(Feminine)
I want to become a puppy!
You may also see the nominalizer もの in the pattern よく～たものだ, which is used to refer to habitual actions in the past that the speaker is reminiscing about.
43. よく金曜日に海で泳いだものだね。
I used to swim in the sea on Fridays, you know.
もの・物・者
もの can be anything. This もの can be in particle constructions like above. 物 is a tangible (and possibly living) thing or force, used in many set expressions. When specifically used to refer to people and written in kanji as 者, it is used in a very humble/condescending tone.
44. 物の怪にとりつかれる。
To be possessed by an evil spirit.
45. 物も言いようで角が立つ。
People may be offended by the way you speak.
46. 物の数分もしないうちに
In no more than a few minutes.
47. 物言えば唇寒し。（Proverb)
Least said, soonest mended.
48. 早い者勝ち。
First come, first served.
- As a nominalizer, こと is usually spelled in hiragana. However, 事 is still preferred by a not-so-small minority of writers, and writing in kanji is more common the older the work you are reading is. For means of disambiguating, in this lesson, the nominalizer こと will not be spelled in kanji for easier identification. ↩︎
- 信ずる is the traditional 連体形 of the verb 信ず, which is the traditional 終止形 of the verb 信じる meaning “to believe.” These so-called zuru-verbs are the traditional equivalent of their modern jiru-verb equivalents. Both constitute a single group that corresponds to suru-verbs which involve the voicing of する upon being attached to the root Sino-Japanese morpheme. ↩︎
- It may even be the case that の is used in place of a thing, person, or place. In this case の refers to the city that the speaker was raised in. ↩︎