In front of verbs, what does こと adds to the meaning?
考えること
Here, is 考える turned into an abstract noun?
I’m thinking 考える means “to think” and 考えること means “thinking” (not like the continouse form)
And if it’s really an abstract noun, is 考えることする grammatically correct? (I know it probably sounds weird)
3 comments
Do you have a full sentence?
*One* of the functions of こと, as you mentioned, turns a verb into a noun and Japanese seems to have a preference for ending sentences with a noun when trying to making a simple statement. This type of thinking can be observed when you see Japanese people learning English and often relying on the passive “is verb” form rather than just using a active verbs.
>考える means “to think” and 考えること means “thinking”
more precisely, it refers to the “act of thinking” so you don’t confuse it with a continuous verb. But one way to look at it is that since you use こと, you can now describe the action with adjectives rather than adverbs. (I’m not trying to explain the logic, but I’m just mentioning that the types of words you can use to modify the verb are now different.)
考えることとする/考えることにする is different. This grammar form implies making a decision to do an action.
こと has other functions but I think that covers the examples that you provided?
I always translated こと as “the thing of”
考えること = “The thing of thinking…” / “The thing of doing to think” (all in an abstract way ofcourse)