Learn How to Change Japanese Verb Into a Noun Using “koto”

The “koto” こと can be difficult to understand in the beginning, you probably need to keep listening and using it to understand it. It is use for normalizing things. In order words, to change a verb into a noun. So when do we change a verb into a noun using koto こと? Let’s find out.

Look at this sentence.

わたし　が　いった　こと を　しんじますか？ - Do you believe what I said?

Words to learn

しんじる、信じる - to believe

いう、言う - to say

Explanation

As you can see from the sentence that a こと is included after the past tense verb of いう. Which is いった. いった　＋　こと is actually a noun as a whole. That is why the　を particle can be added after it. If you are not sure what I mean by saying why the を can be added after it. You should refer back to using the を particle in this post. And this post too. Therefore, いった　こと を　しんじる would literally mean “To believe things said”.

More examples

かのじょ　の　こと を　よく　しっています - I know her very well.

Words to learn

かのじょ、彼女 - She, her

よく - much, very, quite

しってる、知っている - to know (note: The negative verb for this is しらない、知らない, no other exception, a special verb)

Explanation

The sentence example above is of a little different meaning. A translation to understand this would be, “I know things of her well”. In this case, matters, or her character of a person. Although かのじょ is a noun, but to add　こと behind it, you will need to add の first. Just part of the rules. For verbs, adding a の particle is not needed.

One more example

かれ　が　ちゅうごく　に　いった　こと を　しっている？

Words to learn

かれ、彼 - He, him

ちゅうごく、中国 - China

Can you understand the above sentence meaning? There is one verb in the sentence that might have confused you. Some of you viewers might think that いった means “said” but don’t forget いった has the other meaning for “gone”.

So the meaning for the sentence above is “Did you know that he went to China?” or literally, “Did you know about the matter that he went to China?”

Japanese can be really confusing right? Enjoy learning Japanese!