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. 話すものだ [X should speak]
- E.g. 話したものだ [X used to speak]
- Verb ます-Form + たい + ものだ
- E.g. 話したいものだ [X would surely like to speak]
- (い-Adjective / な-Adjective) informal + もの (だ)
- E.g. 高いものだ [It’s because X is expensive]
- E.g. 静かだもの [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. 昔はこの川にも魚がいたものだ。[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.
- 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.
- 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: どうして行かないの? B: だって、忙しいもの。[A: How come you don’t go? B: Because I’m busy.]
- E.g. 金がないもんで映画も見られないんだ。[Because I don’t have any money, I can’t even see a movie.]
- 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.
- With the volitional ~たい Verb form:
- With ~たい, もの(だ) expresses a strong wish.
- E.g. 一度是非一緒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 ~たい, もの(だ) expresses a strong wish.
- 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: 好きな仕事をしていると病気にならないものだ。[If you do a job that you love, you’ll never become sick.]
- E.g. Advice: 人の家に行く時はおみやげを持っていくものです。[When you visit someone’s house, you should bring a souvenir with you.]
- 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.
- 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?]
- When paired with よく(も), ものだ is used to give strong praise or criticism towards someone. It is an idiomatic usage.
- When used in the past tense:
- 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: どうして行かないの。B: だって忙しいもの。[A: Why don’t you come? B: Because I’m busy.]
よくあんな男とデート出来るものだ。[You’ve been going on dates with that kind of guy an awful lot (how could you?).]
昔はよく映画を見たものだ。[In the past, I used to often watch movies.]
こんないいうちに一度住んで見たいものだ。[I want to try living in a house like this at least once.]
朝人に会ったら 「おはよう」 と言うものだ。[When you greet people in the morning, you should say “Ohayou”.]
年を取ると昔のことを話したがるものだ。[When one gets old, he wants to talk about his past.]
A: どうして食べないの。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、読まないんだい。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?]
月日の立つのは早いものだ。[The passing of days and months is so quick.]
WILD Examples:
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