Grammar Info
N3 Lesson 5: 14/21

事(こと)から
from the fact that

Structure
Verb + ことから
[い]Adjective + ことから
[な]Adjective + + ことから
Noun + + ことから
Details
Register Standard
使用域 一般
Information
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 名詞(めいし) こと, and the 格助詞(かくじょし) (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 連体形(れんたいけい) (attributive form).
  • こんな早(はや)い時間(じかん)妻(つま)寝(ね)ていることから、今日(きょう)は色々(いろいろ) 大変(たいへん)だった気(き)づいた。
    From the fact that my wife is sleeping at such an early time, I noticed that she was busy with many things today.
  • 家(いえ)家具(かぐ)全部(ぜんぶ)新(あたら)しいことから、彼(かれ)はここ引(ひ)っ越(こ)してきたばかり分(わ)かった。
    From the fact that all his furniture is new, I realized that he has just moved here.
  • 子供(こども)静(しず)かなことから、何(なに)か悪(わるい)いことている分(わ)かった。
    From the fact that my kids were quiet, I knew that they were doing something bad.
  • これらのことからイベント中止(ちゅうし)することに決(き)めました。
    From these facts, we have decided to cancel the event.
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 接続助詞(せつぞくじょし) (conjunctive particle) that links the (A) and (B) parts of a sentence. However, in ことから, から is a 格助詞(かくじょし), meaning that it is highlighting the subject.
  • コーヒー冷(つめ)たいことから、コーヒー淹(い)れられた結構(けっこう)前(まえ)だ分(わ)かる。
    From the fact that the coffee is cold, you can tell that it was poured quite a while ago.
  • コーヒー冷(つめ)たいことだから、コーヒー淹(い)れられた結構(けっこう)前(まえ)だ分(わ)かる。
    Since the coffee is cold, you can tell that it was poured quite a while ago.
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いい先生(せんせい)から数学(すうがく)を学(まな)んだことから私(わたし)も数学(すうがく)の先生(せんせい)になりたい。
From the fact that I learned math from a good teacher, I too want to be a math teacher.
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野球(やきゅう)とても上手(じょうず)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.
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フィルが一生懸命(いっしょうけんめい)文法(ぶんぽう)勉強(べんきょう)し始(はじ)めたことから、彼(かれ)が日本語(にほんご)の能力(のうりょく)を高(たか)めようと思(おも)っていることに気(き)がついた。
From the fact that Phil began intensely studying grammar, I realized that he was set on improving his Japanese language ability.
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