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kotoda

ことだ

meaning
• should
• 〜ほうがいい

notes
• Used when giving suggestions or advice.

examples
1. あまり心配しないことです。 (You shouldn’t worry too much.)
2. 暖かくして、ゆっくり休むことだ。 (= 休んだほうがいい)
3. 無理をしないことです。 (= しないほうがいいです)

3 Comments leave one →
  1. Dee permalink
    January 21, 2014 9:29 am

    So, when I say something like 見ることです I’m saying “You should watch”? Or should I just say 見たほうがいい “You should watch”？　

    Can ことです/だ only be used with the plain positive and negative form of a verb?

    All this time I’ve been learning Japanese, I’ve never seen anyone teach ことです as a way of suggesting things or giving advice. I’ve only seen plain past た+ほうがいい

    Reply
    • Squire Starsquid permalink
      January 21, 2014 9:49 am

      Hi Dee, thanks for visiting. You could use it like that.「たほうがいい」has a slight「it’s better to…otherwise…」nuance to it. You can also use it as 〜してみることだ。(should try to…)

      Negative form becomes: 〜ない + ことだ
      ex: 聞かないことだ

      Reply
      • dee permalink
        January 21, 2014 10:22 am

        Ahh, I see! Thank you for the quick response and helping me understand better!

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