Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 5: 15/22

事(こと)からFrom the fact that

Structure

Verb + ことから
［い］Adjective + ことから
［な］Adjective + な + ことから
Noun + の + ことから

Details

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About ことから

In order to come to a logical conclusion about something in Japanese, sometimes strong expressions like ことから will be used. This is a combination of the noun こと, and the case marking particle から. ことから literally means 'from that which is (A), (B)', but is generally simply translated as 'from the fact that (A), (B)'.

ことから may be connected to the end of any phrase, so long as the word before it is in its attributive form.

Caution

There is a difference between ことから 'from the fact that' and ことだから 'because'. In ことだから, から is a conjunction particle that links the (A) and (B) parts of a sentence. However, in ことから, から is a case marking particle, meaning that it is highlighting the subject.

  • コーヒーが冷(つめ)たいことから、コーヒーが淹(い)れられたのは結構(けっこう)前(まえ)だと分(わ)かる。
    From the fact that the coffee is cold, you can tell that it was poured quite a while ago.
  • コーヒーが冷(つめ)たいことだから、コーヒーが淹(い)れられたのは結構(けっこう)前(まえ)だと分(わ)かる。
    Since the coffee is cold, you can tell that it was poured quite a while ago.

Examples

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    以上(いじょう)の事(こと)から、この結論(けつろん)に至(いた)りました。

    From (the facts) above, we arrived at this conclusion.

    「お父(とお)さん」と呼(よ)ばれている事(こと)から、子供(こども)がいるのだと分(わ)かった。

    From the fact that he is being called 'dad', I discerned that he has children.

    指輪(ゆびわ)をしている事(こと)から、既婚者(きこんしゃ)だと分(わ)かった。

    I realized that he is married from the fact that he is wearing a ring.

    野球(やきゅう)がとても上手(じょうず)な事(こと)から、将来(しょうらい)は有名(ゆうめい)になりそうだ。

    From the fact that he is really good at baseball, it seems like he will be famous one day.

    田代島(たしろじま)は猫(ねこ)が多(おお)い事(こと)から、猫(ねこ)の島(しま)と呼(よ)ばれるようになった。

    From the fact that there are many cats in Tashirojima, it came to be called 'Cat Island'.

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ことから – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (2 in total)

  • Johnathan-Weir

    Johnathan-Weir

    According to this video

    This grammar is somewhat stiff. Should the 硬 symbol be added to it?

  • Daru

    Daru

    硬 is mostly used when it’s academic grammar, or stuff you would only find in literature or really old stuff. ことから can be found in spoken Japanese, where you never find 硬 grammar.

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