Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 5: 21/21

～たものだ

Used to

Structure

Verb［た］+ ものだ

Details

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    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

Rare Kanji

物

About たものだ

As mentioned the ものだ lesson, the combination of the noun 物(もの) 'thing', with the auxiliary verb だ forms a strong determination about whatever comes before it as being 'the way it is'. As an extension of this nuance, ものだ can be paired with verbs in the past tense, creating a phrase similar to 'I used to (A) in the past'. However, the literal meaning is closer to '(A) was the way it used to be'.
  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)はよく先生(せんせい)に怒(おこ)られたものだ。
    I used to get yelled at by the teacher often when I was still a kid.
  • 昔(むかし)はよく親父(おやじ)と釣(つ)りに行(い)ったものだ。
    I used to go fishing with my father in the past.
  • 若(わか)い頃(ころ)は色々(いろいろ)と苦労(くろう)したものだ。
    When I was young, I used to suffer a lot.
Due to ものだ being a strong determination of something's existence/truth, this expression quite often carries the nuance that the speaker is nostalgic about (A), reminiscing about (A), or being introspective about (A). This means that it will not sound natural when describing things that are seemingly inconsequential, or have no meaningful significance.
  • 小学生(しょうがくせい)の頃(ころ)は毎日(まいにち)学校(がっこう)に行(い)ったものだ。
    I used to go to school everyday when I was an elementary student. (Unnatural, as this is a normal event)
  • 昔(むかし)は毎日(まいにち)のように親父(おやじ)とけんかをしたものだ。
    In the past I fought with my father everyday. (Natural, as this is a meaningful event)
When highlighting things in the past that are not particularly important, たことがある will be used instead.
  • 多分(たぶん)子供(こども)の頃(ころ)に食(た)べたことがある。
    I may have eaten this when I was a kid. (Unimportant)
  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)はよく、神社(じんじゃ)で遊(あそ)んだ事(こと)がある。
    When I was a kid, I played at the shrine a lot. (Potentially important, but not in this speaker's opinion)

Examples

  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)はよく海(うみ)に泳(およ)ぎに行(い)ったものだ。

    I used to go swimming in the ocean a lot when I was a child.

  • 昔(むかし)はよく、車(くるま)を運転(うんてん)して遠(とお)くに出(で)かけたものだ。

    A long time ago, I often used to go out and take long drives.

  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)は授業(じゅぎょう)中(ちゅう)、よく居(い)眠(ねむ)りをしたものだ。

    When I was a child, I used to nod off a lot in the middle of class.

  • 私(わたし)が子(こ)どもの頃(ころ)、よく父(ちち)に映画(えいが)を見(み)に連(つ)れていってもらったものだ。

    Dad used to take me to the movies when I was a child.

  • 昔(むかし)は井戸(いど)から水(みず)をくんだものだが、今(いま)は水道(すいどう)を出(だ)すだけでいい。

    People used to take their water from wells, but now you can just get it (directly) from the water supply.

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たものだ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (8 in total)

  • IcyIceBear

    IcyIceBear

    Hiii again
    Have you heard of the Hinative app? I recommend it, it was basically built for those kinds of questions! I haven’t used it in a while, but I would use it to check with natives if my sentences were natural. It’s really easy to get translations from multiple natives and learners alike, as well as corrections/suggestions on how to say something better

  • RezoneH

    RezoneH

    thank you for your reply and valuable time.

    I’ve heard of it, yes. As you said, I think it is a useful site for this purpose. Have you tried ChatGPT? If you have heard or experienced it before, I do not want to make any additional explanations about it.

    I hope that there are many people at a higher level than me at Bunpro who can answer this question.

  • RezoneH

    RezoneH

    Not bad yes. I liked it. It’s integrated with A.I., that’s great, I didn’t know that. Thanks for your advice.

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