Hello, I just recently started studying JLPT N4 stuff since I pretty much mastered everything JLPT N5 with my Japanese tutor, but there has always been one thing I never 100% could understand. Sometimes I see sentences that use こと in a way I don’t really get, here is an example;
彼女のことを思うだけでドキドキする meaning, just by thinking of her, my heart goes fast
I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t just say 彼女を思うだけでドキドキする
Can anyone explain to me why you would use こと in this situation, or what this means, thank you so so much!
3 comments
I’d say it’s an analogous reason as why you can’t say “when I think her, my heart beats fast” in English, but instead “when I think *about* her …”
emotionally i think the issue is that thinking of a person directly is very personal, so this adds a little bit of a buffer in terms of “about the person” or “things related to the person” rather than themselves. analogous in english to “when i think about susie” vs “when i think… ‘susie'”. the latter is pretty personal bordering on maybe even a tad obsessive or intrusive. not that much, just a touch.
on a more general basis, koto has a tendency to add a little bit of a flavor of “or something” or “and stuff like that” to some phrases where it’s not grammatically necessary. it’s just adding a layer of indirection. this happens in Xということ vs X situations as well. it’s not directly translateable this is just the feeling i get from it over time.
It’s more like “about.”
Just thinking about her, my heart beats fast.
Have you ever heard in a Japanese show:
彼女のことが好きです- I love her.
Direct translation: I love the things about her.
こと has mean uses in Japanese. Take a look here:
https://kawakawalearningstudio.com/all/koto-mean-using-koto/