Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 5: 22/22

～たものだUsed to

Structure

Verb［た］+ ものだ

Details

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    Standard

  • 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'.

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.

When highlighting things in the past that are not particularly important, たことがある will be used instead.

Related

Examples

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    若(わか)い頃(ころ)は、いろんな苦労(くろう)をしたものだ。

    I used to have lots of hardships when I was young.

    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.

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