More こと Expressions

Table of Contents

This page explains some more こと expressions, though they should be easy at this point.

ことだし – Well its X so..
ことなしに – Without
ことのないよう – So as to not…
をいいことに – Abusing a situation

ことだし

Since its…(Reason for judgement, suggestion, decision)
Plain form word + ことだし

ことだし is exactly what you would expect it is, ことだ + し (unsaid things/reasons).
It functions almost identically to ので or から, but tends to be used for the reasons for a judgement, suggestion, or decision.

Tends to be used with ようだ or suggestion type grammar.

Fairly rare, but nouns and な adjectives may connect using である instead of の/な

Examples

もう終わったことだし、忘れよう
Well its already finished so lets forget about it.
仕方のないことだし、自分を責めても意味がない
It was unavoidable, so there’s no point in blaming yourself.
病気で入院されたことだし、責められない
You were hospitalized for being sick, so no one can blame you.

ことなしに

Without
Plain form verb + ことなしに

ことなしに also means what you’d expect it to; “without”.
It is essentially a more literary version of the ず ending. (or ないで, but it is not used like ないでください)

With negative sentences, it expresses that something can’t be done without..

Examples

頑張ることなしにできた
Managed to do it without any effort.
苦しむことなしに死んだ
Died without suffering.
勉強することなしに合格できない
Can’t be passed without studying.

ことのないよう

So as to not..
Plain form verb + ことのないよう

ことのないように means “so as to not..”
It expresses what you will do to prevent something from occurring.

ことのないように is a more formal/literary version of ないように

The に may be dropped, and the の may be replaced with が

Examples

後悔することのないように頑張ります
I will try hard so that I won’t regret it later.
問題になることがないように気を付けます
I will be careful so that it doesn’t become a problem.
彼女をがっかりさせることがないよう努力しています
I’m working hard so that I don’t disappoint her.

をいいことに

To abuse a situation
Plain form verb/い adjective + の + をいいことに
な Adjective/Noun + なの/であるの + をいいことに
Noun + をいいことに

をいいことに literally means “to take as a good thing”, but is used to express abusing a situation.
Typically used about doing bad things when an authority or policing figure is absent.

をいいことに must connect to a noun. It may use こと, but usually uses の to nominalize verbs/adjectives
Adjectives may also use さ

Nouns have a lot of possibilities for connections to をいいことに, but typically connect directly.

Examples

先生がいないのをいいことに、テストの問題を話し合った
Abusing the time that the teacher wasn’t there, we talked about the test questions.
彼の親切さをいいことにどんどん仕事を押し付けた
Abusing his helpfulness, pushed more and more work onto him.
部長が休んでいるのをいいことに仕事をさぼる
Abusing the section head’s absence, slacked off on work.