What's Your Hobby? Discussion
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Is this lesson about me?
What are you bad at? Driving and running - check
What's your dream? Working for the US Embassy in Japan - well, who wouldn' t want that right :D
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Hi Guys! I hope this answers all of your questions:
When an informal present verb is followed by ‘koto’, it becomes a noun (equivalent to the ‘verb-ing’ or ‘to verb’ form in English), which can be used with ‘desu.’
Please remember that you can’t use ‘verb + desu’, and should use ‘verb + koto desu.’
◯ わたしのしゅみは、りょうりをすることです。My hobby is cooking / to cook.
× わたしのしゅみは、りょうりをするです。 My hobby is cook.
(◯ わたしのしゅみは、りょうり*です。 *Noun: りょうり)
Also, you can use ‘verb + koto’ in sentences.
For example,
- にほんごをべんきょうすることは、おもしろいです。
(Studying Japanese is interesting).
- にゅーすをみることは、つまらないです。
(Watching news is boring).
For example, たいしかんではたらくことmeans “working / to work for the embassy”, while たいしかんではたらく “work for the embassy.”
Therefore, you should say ゆめはたいしかんではたらくことです。(My dream is working / to work for the embassy), not ゆめはたいしかんではたらくです。(X My dream is work for the embassy).
As you know, ‘koto’ itself means “thing”, but in this case (an informal present verb + ‘koto’), ‘koto’ makes a verb a noun, but does not mean ‘thing’.
For other examples of ‘koto’,
- にほんごをべんきょうすることは、おもしろいです。
(Studying Japanese is interesting).
- にゅーすをみることは、つまらないです。
(Watching news is boring).
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And I assume we have to use the dictionary form before koto, as it is in every example. Is that right?
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I'm having a hard time understanding it as well.
can't we just say (ゆめは) たいしかんではたらくです。? What does koto truly means, because in the link you give, it just says "thing" but I don't understand how it fits in the sentences learned in that lesson.
Is ther any other cases we can use koto?
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CrimsonAmaryllis-san,
I'm not sure if I understood your question correctly, but this explanation from our dictionary may help you understanding the meaning of こと.
https://www.nihongomaster.com/dictionary/entry/29912/koto-kon
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So if 'koto desu' can be used as a response to multiple verbs (what are your dreams, hobbies etc), is there another way to translate it? From the previous lesson showing what we're capable of doing (dekimasu), it's obvious what kotoga means - but here it's a bit more fluid. Is there any literal meaning to help with understanding this?
Thank you
