I came up with this sentence and thought about the three different ways to say it and I may be overthinking it, but what makes this sentence with のは, こと, and ということ different from the others?
1. あなたが沖縄に行くのは本当ですか。
2.あなたが沖縄に行くことは本当ですか。
3. あなたが沖縄に行くということは本当ですか。
1 comment
の and こと are the same in this context, though there’s sometimes a bit more tendency to use の for things that are emotionally close to oneself and こと for the rest, but it’s a minor issue
ということ just adds a layer of indirection, which can do two things, separately or together
* give it a sense of “or something” or “and stuff”, something like the XしYし or たり・たり patterns, i.e. “it’s true that you’re going to okinawa (and other stuff)”
* a bit like the difference between “it’s true you’re going” vs “the fact that you’re going is true”… it’s just a wordier way of saying it
i’d say i hear ということ a bit more when one is quoting a large phrase rather than just a simple verb nominalization, and sometimes it’s a little like an “or stuff” filler like なんか・というか