Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
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もの(だ)

もの(だ)

もの(だ) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Noun

Essential Meaning: It’s Because / Used to be X / How could you do X

Construction: 

  • Verb informal + ものだ
    • E.g. 話はなすものだ [X should speak]
    • E.g. 話はなしたものだ [X used to speak]
  • Verb ます-Form + たい + ものだ
    • E.g. 話はなしたいものだ [X would surely like to speak]
  • (い-Adjective / な-Adjective) informal + もの (だ)
    • E.g. 高たかいものだ [It’s because X is expensive]
    • E.g. 静しずかだもの [It’s because X is quiet]

Notes:

  • もの(だ) is a tricky grammar point to understand. Basically, もの(だ) is used to present a piece of information as if it were a tangible object. By presenting the information that precedes もの(だ) as if it were tangible, this structure conveys a certain level of wistful emotion (e.g. an excuse, an exclamation, nostalgia, reminiscence, desire, indirect commands, conviction, et cetera). The precise connotation of もの(だ) depends on the context, the tense, and the preceding part of speech.
    • When used in the past tense:
      • With the past tense, もの(だ) tends to convey a sense of nostalgia. It doesn’t convey a spontaneous emotion, but rather one that has been nurtured in mind for a relatively long period of time.
        • E.g. 昔むかしはこの川かわにも魚さかながいたものだ。[In the past, it used to be the case that there were fish in this river.] In this case, もの(だ) conveys the idea that the speaker is wistful and nostalgic over the fact that there used to be fish in the river, but now there aren’t.
    • When following an interrogative sentence:
      • When used to respond to a question, もの(だ) tends to express an excuse, reason, or a justification for something. In this context, the main copula だ is dropped unless it is used in a subordinate clause.
        • E.g. A: どうして行いかないの？ B: だって、忙いそがしいもの。[A: How come you don’t go? B: Because I’m busy.]
        • E.g. 金かねがないもんで映画えいがも見みられないんだ。[Because I don’t have any money, I can’t even see a movie.]
    • With the volitional ~たい Verb form:
      • With ~たい, もの(だ) expresses a strong wish.
        • E.g. 一度いちど是非ぜひ一緒いっしょにテニスをしたいものだ 。[I for sure want to play tennis together once.] This example expresses the speaker’s strong desire to play tennis with the listener.
    • With the regular present tense:
      • With the present tense (either affirmative or negative), もの(だ) tends to express a general maxim / principle, a piece of advice, or an indirect command.
        • E.g. General Maxim: 好すきな仕事しごとをしていると病気びょうきにならないものだ。[If you do a job that you love, you’ll never become sick.]
        • E.g. Advice: 人ひとの家いえに行いく時ときはおみやげを持もっていくものです。[When you visit someone’s house, you should bring a souvenir with you.]
    • With よく(も) ~ ものだ:
      • When paired with よく(も), ものだ is used to give strong praise or criticism towards someone. It is an idiomatic usage.
        • E.g. よくそんなばかなことをしたものだ。[How could you do such a foolish thing?]
  • In casual situations, もの can be abbreviated as もん.
  • In some cases (i.e. when the situation is directly perceptible), the nominalizer もの in もの(だ) can be replaced by の (Nominalizer) with a slight change in connotation. Specifically,もの indicates a tangible object and の (Nominalizer) indicates a directly perceptible state or action. Thus, もの comes across as more indirectly and generally emotive while の (Nominalizer) is geared towards the current situation that exists as the speaker is speaking.
    • E.g. いまビールが飲のみたいんです。[I want to drink beer now.] This sentence is OK. の (Nominalizer) is appropriate for an active and directly perceptible situation.
    • E.g. *いまビールが飲のみたいものです。[I want to drink beer now.]. This sentence doesn’t work, because the speaker is expressing that he or she is presently thirsty and not generally thirsty. の (Nominalizer) would be the appropriate nominalizer.

Example Sentences:

A: どうして行いかないの。B: だって忙いそがしいもの。[A: Why don’t you come? B: Because I’m busy.]

よくあんな男おとことデート出来できるものだ。[You’ve been going on dates with that kind of guy an awful lot (how could you?).]

昔むかしはよく映画えいがを見みたものだ。[In the past, I used to often watch movies.]

こんないいうちに一度いちど住すんで見みたいものだ。[I want to try living in a house like this at least once.]

朝あさ人ひとに会あったら 「おはよう」 と言いうものだ。[When you greet people in the morning, you should say “Ohayou”.]

年としを取とると昔むかしのことを話はなしたがるものだ。[When one gets old, he wants to talk about his past.]

A: どうして食たべないの。B: だって、まずいもの。[A: Why don’t you eat it? B: Because it tastes gross.]

A: どうしてその本ほん、読よまないんだい。B: だって、よくわからないんだもの。[A: Why don’t you read that book? B: Because I can’t understand it very well.]

よくそんなばかなことをしたものだ。[How could you do such a foolish thing?]

月日つきひの立たつのは早はやいものだ。[The passing of days and months is so quick.]

WILD Examples:

The first line of this song goes like this: お前まえが二十歳はたちになったら、酒場さかばで二人ふたりで飲のみたいものだ [When you turn 20, I really want to have a drink together at a bar]. At 0:30, you can hear this line: お前まえが二十歳はたちになったら、思おもい出で話ばなしで飲のみたいものだ [When you turn 20, I want to reminisce together over some drinks]
Listen to this line at 3:30: それでも私わたしが突然とつぜん口紅くちべになどつけたものだから、お前まえ大丈夫だいじょうぶかとおでこに手てを当あてた [Nevertheless, I would suddenly try on lipstick and things like that, and they would smack me on the forehead and say “What’s wrong with you?“] The idea here is that the singer is wistfully looking back on the past.

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