Hey and welcome!
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between の and こと? Did you read or heard them being called nominalizers and you didn’t really get it? Or are you curious about words like ところ、こと、もの and suffixes like さ and み in Japanese?
Well, then this material is perfect for you!
# Let’s start with what nominalization is?
Well, is the use of a word that is not a noun like an adjective, adverb, or verb as a noun. Well, that was easy.
This can be done using affixes, conjugations, or even not changing the verb form at all.
For example in English:
* \- adjectives can be nominalized with **ibility** suffix.
* applicable → applicability
* \- verbs can be nominalized with **ion** and the most productive **ing** suffixes:
* to react → reaction
* to run → running
**Very interesting, but how does this is done in Japanese?**
Well, originally there were many methods of producing nouns in different eras.
For example, in old Japanese nouns were formed from verbs by replacing the final vowel.
村（むら） emerged from muru 群（む）る ‘to gather’. But this method quickly died out.
We have to recall fast what 終止形（しゅうしけい） and 連体形（れんたいけい） are to have a full understanding.
In classical Japanese, there was another conjugation used at the end of the sentence, and also other forms were used to modify nouns. The first one was called 終止形 (the ending, predictive form) and the other 連体形 (attributive form – that is describing form). The 終止形 died out, except for nouns and なadjectives, where の and な are used for describing other nouns, and だ・である・です at the end.
There is also another form 連用形（れにょうけい） (conjunctive, continuative form) that was used to connect verbs, this is the part of the word if you remove ます.
Example of conjugations for modern なる:
​
|未然形（imperfective form (things that not happened), nai stem) （みぜんけい）|なら|
|:-|:-|
|連用形(conjunctive form (connects), masu stem)（れんようけい）|なり・に|
|終止形(predicative form, ending form)（しゅうしけい）|なり|
|連体形(attributive form, noun modifying form)（れんたいけい）|なる|
|已然形(realis form (thing that happened, used with ば and ども as in けれども)（いぜんけい）|なれ|
|命令形(imperative form) used for orders （めいれいけい）|なれ|
​
This is all cool, but what does it have in common with の、こと and nominalization?
More than many think!
Actually, in classical Japanese continuative form （連用形）and attributive form (連体形) were nominalizers themselves, and this usage survived to modern Japanese! And what is more, you are using the first one fairly often, since it gave birth to many modern nouns, and is used in certain patterns.
連用形 nominalized verb when was followed by particle に. Do you recognize this? Yup, this pattern is still used in に行く に来る constructions like:
* 食べ物を*買いに行く*。
* I am going to buy food. 買い is the 連用形 of 買う and is used like a noun.
連体形 was used as a nominalizer by itself and could be followed by particles like が and を. This survived with ごとし (to seem, similar to よう or みたい) 、ゆえ(‘reason similar to から、ので、わけ) and まま (as).
* 悪夢\[あくむ\]を 見\[み\]ているが 如\[ごと\]き 目\[め\]つきで 問\[と\]うた。
* He asked looking as if he were seeing a nightmare. 見ている is used like a noun here.
* この redditを 愛\[あい\]するがゆえに、つくったのです。
* I created this because I love Reddit. 愛する is used like a noun here.
* 私\[わたし\] 達\[たち\]は 物事\[ものごと\]をあるがままに 見\[み\]なければならない。
* We must see things as they are. ある is used like a noun here.
**But everything changed in the XVI century** when the ending and attributive form merged and the verbs (more or less) became like the modern ones.
​
Since the one form could be used at the end of the sentence and to describe nouns, it was kind of hard for it to also be a nominalizer.
And this is when the **の** entered all in white, on shining armor. の was already used to describe nouns (as an attributive). So it naturally became the new nominalizer.
This is how の came to what is it now, but what about こと？
Well, both の and こと belong to a group called 形式名詞 ‘dummy nouns’. Nouns that original meaning, especially in こと case was partially lost, and gained the role of dependant nominalizers, which have to be followed by other parts of speech or clause (part of the sentence).
**こと** originally meant (and still means, depending on whether is used as a nominalizer, or standalone noun), ‘phenomenon’, ‘fact’, or ‘non-material thing’.
Example from classical Japanese:
*赤*きこと – ‘red thing’ – ‘redness’
Modern
思うこと – ‘what one is thinking’ ‘thinking’
Another example of such a word is **ところ** ‘place’：
食べているところだ。
I am eating (ところ emphasizes ‘situation’, used when action is progress at this very moment).
食べたところだ。
I (just) ate. (ところ emphasizes ‘situation’ when the action just ended)
食べるところだ。
I am about to eat. (ところ emphasizes ‘situation’ about to happen)
Depending on the verb, used at the end of sentence, ところ might be followed by various particles like を、へ、に、が and so on, but let’s leave this for another time.
​
By the way, adjectives can be nominalized using suffixes **さ and み**：
美し**さ** \- beauty (noun) (usually in sense of degree)
mrnooneの*美しさ*、自然の寛大な贈り物。
Mrnoone’s beauty, the generous gift of nature. (Ok, I am not pretty at all, but always wanted to write something poetic)
うま**み -** taste/flavor (usually in sense of condition/state)
*らめんがうまみ*があふれ出る。
Ramen overflows with taste.
There is another nominalizer **もの** (tangible thing, physical thing):
we can see it in some derived nouns like, though it is not productive that is we cannot use it with any kind of verb to create new nouns:
食べ物（たべもの） – food
飲み物（のみもの） – drinks
And to indicate something that is a fact, something widely considered true.
この 種\[しゅ\]の 事故\[じこ\]はしばしば 起\[お\]こるものだ。
Accidents like this occur repeatedly.
**Well, let’s go to the differences between こと and の.**
The often explanation is that の is more subjective and concrete(something speakers can perceive with their 5 senses, states, and events), and こと more objective and abstract(general ideas, abstract concepts, thoughts).
So, there are verbs that can be used with only の or こと and MANY verbs that can be used with both.
**の：**
の cannot be used as a nominalizer at the end of a sentence before だ/です. (because this construction is used as explanatory)In this case, you just use こと (go to very bottom to read more)
usually is used with verbs that describe perception through senses: 聞\[き\]く、 見\[み\]る、 味\[あじ\]わう etc
私（わたし）がする***の****を見（み）る*ようにしなさい
Do as you see me do!
​
usually is used when someone gets involved in someone else’s action (try to read all of those aloud fast!):待\[ま\]つ、 手伝\[てつだ\]う、じゃまする、 写\[うつ\]す、 送\[おく\]る、 追\[お\]う、さえぎる、 会\[あ\]う、おさえる、 助\[たす\]ける、 冷\[ひ\]やす、 直\[なお\]す、 遅\[おく\]れる、 止\[と\]まる、やむ。。
ジムに行く***の****をやめたの。*
I stopped going to gym.
usually is used with adjectives うるさい and やかましい
**こと：**
usually is used with verbs that express communication like 言\[い\]う、 書\[か\]く、 伝\[つた\]えるetc
何（なん）か間違(まちが)った*ことを言（い）った*と思(おも)う？
Do you think that I said something wrong?
usually is used with verbs that express influencing someone to do something or not like: 禁\[きん\]じる、 許\[ゆる\]す、 命\[めい\]じる, 頼\[たの\]etc
リハーサルに参加する*こと*は*禁じ*られています。
They are prohibited from participating in rehearsal.
usually is used with verbs that express thought process and believing: 考\[かんが\]える、 思\[おも\]う、 理解\[りかい\]する、 信\[しん\]じるetc
どうすればよいかという*こと*を*考える、*
*To consider what is the best way to do (something.*
**ONLY こと is used with some set expressions: ことができる、ことがある、ことにする、ことになるetc**
食べることができる。
I can eat.
アジアに *行ったことがある*
I went to Asia. (I’ve experienced going to Asia)
*アムステルダム*では吹雪（ふぶ）くことがある。(when ことがある follows non-past it means that something happens ocassionally)
There are sometimes Blizzards in Amsterdam.
何を*ことにする*ことを試みていた。(ことにする means to decide)
I tried to decide what to do.
​
When both can be used:
Everything else, like:
verbs that describe operations on information: 知る、忘れる、思い出すetc
お前を見ている***の/こと****を思い出した*
*(Someone) remembered seeing you.*
verbs and adjectives that describe feelings towards something: 好（この）む、好（す）き、嫌（きら）いetc
読（よ）む***こと/の****が好き*
*I like to read.*
with words that describe learning: 学ぶ、習うetc -…
何（なん）か新（あたら）しい*ことを学（まな）ぶ*機会（きかい）だ
This is opportunity to learn something new.
According to some Japanese speakers, in cases when both can be used, ことfeels more polite and “hard(formal)”, while の feels rougher and “soft”. Therefore when they write they tend to choose こと over の。On the other hand, some say that they do not feel a particular difference between them.
**Also, even though 好き、嫌い、上手、下手 can be used with こと, however, those are most often used together with の and are taught together with it in textbooks.**
And as a bonus, an explanation of の (explanatory, emphasis).
Other than nominalizing, 連体形 had other, special function. When used at the end of the sentence, instead of ending form it produced a certain rhetorical effect, implying that something is left unsaid. This was very popular in female speech.
Since the attributive form became the new ending form, something new was needed to have this implication. And again, の were used here. Which produced の used for example in female speech or an explanatory sense.
すごく面白い*の。*
This was very interesting!
​
And this is all folks,
I am mrnoone and that was ‘not so’ brief Japanese.
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4 comments
Thanks! I’ll save this to read it when I have some time. Keep up with posts like these!
> Since the one form could be used at the end of the sentence and to describe nouns, it was kind of hard for it to also be a nominalizer.
How can this be when in classical Japanese already the attributive and conclusive form were the same for most verbs?
This in particular was anticlimatic to me when I started to look into classical conjugation. I had always heard that classical Japanese maintained this distinction, but in reality, it only maintained it for bigrade and some irregular verbs, whereas quadrigrade and monograde verbs, together beng more than 80% of all verbs did not maintain this distinction at all and used the same form for the attributive and conclusive forms.
Clearly if it could be used so with those, why not with all?
From what I gather, nominalizing の, and もの both are basically just short for のもの. As is こと, really.
の / もの / こと = のもの / のこと
I find this makes it easiest to wrap one’s head around. Using の essentially ends up simply making the language flow better, be less clunky. With the downside that it doesn’t carry the nuance of もの/こと, so we still see those being used as well. Just to give the language some more depth and not leave everything quite up to context and interpretation. And of course as you note, there are some set expressions and words that have established themselves as well.
Sometimes a direct English translation becomes more simplistic, other times it doesn’t or becomes more confusing unless you know what’s happening.
Instead of saying: 食べの物 – “thing of the eating”, it becomes 食べ物 – “food thing”. Translation seems more simplistic.
But when instead of saying: ジムに行くの物 – “thing of going to the gym”, we have ジムに行くの – “going to the gym (xxx?)” – it becomes hard to directly translate that “の”, right? But when we know it still stands for the exact same thing (の物), then the translation is easier to process, and is easier to wrap our heads around as to what’s happening.
This line of thinking can also be helpful in cases where we want to use both a nominalizing の AND a possessive の both at the same time.
“Sakura’s one is red and Mary’s one is blue”
A direct translation would result in a rather messy construction that’s hard to make sense of:
さくら の の が 赤い, マアリ の の が 青い
But if we consider the nominalizing の to stand for のもの, it starts to make more sense:
さくら の のもの が 赤い, マアリ の のもの が 青い
But that’s of course quite clunky, and in such cases only a single の ends up being used:
さくら の が 赤い, マアリ の が 青い
Which can be SUPER confusing if you haven’t wrapped your head around the idea that a nominalizing の could be thought of as のもの.
But if you do know, it starts making perfect sense how a single の can stand for both possessive and nominalizing at the same time.
This is really very similar to English where you could just use a single ” ‘s ” to conflate the two. If you say “Sakura’s is blue”, it’s already clear that you mean “Sakura’s thing is blue”. But in Japanese we don’t really have the luxury of layering on the の’s as we want, so it can be hard to reverse engineer and break down the grammar when all we’re given is a single の to wrap our heads around.
Thank you for writing this, it was a great read.