ことだ - Grammar Discussion

should, ought to

Verb[ ] + ことだ
Verb[ ない ] + ことだ

View on Bunpro

1 Like

Hello! What’s the difference between this and “beki”? Thank you!

ことだ
This grammar point is a combination of こと and .

[Authoritative; used by someone of higher status/power/attitude]

[ことだ is used when giving indirect advice]

べき
べき originates from the conjugative form of べし, an auxiliary verb that attaches to the plain form of a verb, but 〜べき it can be like a noun since it can be followed by だ/です.

Unlike ことだ it doesn’t attatch to the negative form of verbs. Instead you can do something like …べきじゃない.

[Used to express a strong sense that doing something is generally a correct thing to do, an obligation, a duty, etc.]

[Much stronger than した方がいい]

3 Likes

説明してくれてありがとうございます!So ~ことだ is more authorative in use than “べき”, basically? And can also be used for giving indirect advice. Did I get it right?

2 Likes

@Elibean
To sum it up, べきだ usually expresses general obligation so it sounds more authorative, while ことだ usually expresses personal advice/warning.

Cheers!

2 Likes

And what about the grammar in this form? I can’t find it in Bunpro

Nは〜こと、〜ことだ

2 Likes

Why is the copula required in this lesson? Why isn’t just すること taught/accepted as an answer/bounced back?

1 Like

Hey, I just had this grammar point and when reviewing it “ことです” has been marked as wrong. This is weird because it is displayed as the polite equivalent to ことだ, there should at least be a warning that the casual version is wanted in that specific sentence.

1 Like

no i like agree with this so much because the amount of times i am ONE hiragana character off and it marks me wrong, like damn, im so sorry i missed the な or よ particle :unamused:

like damn, i understand particles are important but god, at least I remembered the kanji :yum:

yeah that happens like all the time btw, its very very specific to the sentences, so you have to pay attention to the sentences, even if it was the last word, which makes you thinkkkk you add です。 BUT THEN ITS ANOTHER PARTICLE, just make sure you read the sentence so you know if you end in like です、よ、な、た。 cause it really matters :unamused:

also there is warnings :yum: its at the top of where the word is, it would be next to the ことです if its something you don’t know yet, if you have reviewed It before it slowllyyy, takes away hints and stuff, that’s probably why you didn’t get something that said (polite equivalent!!)

maybe because im a low level and most off the stuff gives me the meanings so i already know which one i have to use :yum:
I hope I answered your question, if I didn’t just ask lol