Thing in Japanese - Meaning of Koto and Mono

If you still don’t know, in Japanese the word もの (物) and こと(事) means “Thing” but what is the difference between the two? When to use each of them in a sentence or phrase?

Meaning of Mono – もの [物]

The mono is used to refer to a physical, concrete thing, a tangible thing, something that can be touched; a sensitive and touchable thing. Something that is perceived by touch; corporeal, palpable. For example: a wallet, a cabbage, a door, or a coin.

Mono can give the idea of an object, article, material, substance, possessions, property, belongings, and anything. It can also be used to emphasize emotion, judgment, etc. And it can be used to indicate a common occurrence in the past, a general trend, or something that should happen.

もの can also be contracted to もん in informal speech.

Examples of the use of mono:

その黒いものは猫かなあ.
sono kuroi mono wa neko kanaa.
I would like to know if that black thing is a cat?

おいしいものが食べたい.
oishii mono ga tabetai.
I want to eat something good.

Meaning of Koto – こと[事]

The koto is a conceptual, intangible thing, that is, something that cannot be touched; something untouchable. Or a thing not perceptible by touch; impalpable and incorporeal. Examples of ungraspable things: a victory, a habit, a desire, or an incident.

Koto can also give the idea of interest, incident, fact, reason, case, work, business, etc.

Examples of the use of koto:

いい事はありません.
ii koto wa arimasen.
There is nothing good.

大事な事を教えます.
daiji na koto o oshiemasu.
I will tell you an important thing.

昨日の事はすみませんでした.
kinou no koto wa sumimasen deshita.
I am sorry about what happened yesterday. (thing from yesterday)

どういうこと?
dou iu koto?
What does that mean?

Comparison between Mono and Koto

Let’s make a brief example of 2 identical sentences, one with koto and the other with mono, and this gives a different idea to the sentence.

食べる事
Taberu koto
The act of eating, Nutrition

食べる物
Taberu mono
Eat something

It is also possible to transform an abstract idea into a concrete/tangible one, see the example below:

どうして行かないの？Dōshite ikanai no?
だって、忙しいもの。Datte, isogashī mono.

A curiosity is that the difference in tangibility between mono and koto has a phonological root. The nasal consonants /m/ and /n/ are associated with subjectivity, but not /k/, which is a velar consonant (in this case, denoting objectivity). There is also the issue of voicing. /m/ and /n/ are voiced sounds, /k/ and /t/ are voiceless consonants, which also contributes to the phonological symbolism of subjectivity vs. objectivity.

Credits to: Makino & Tsutsui 2011: 50-58 and André Pinto – Kitsune Japanese classes

What does koto mean in the phrase I love you?

The word koto [こと] can literally mean things in a figurative sense. But its use in phrases like I love you [あなたのことが好きだ] is not very clear. When we use the expression koto in a sentence like I love you, we are trying to say that we like all the things about the person. How so?

In many animes, dramas, and in real life, we can see people using the expression I love you in the following way:

anata no koto ga dai suki desu
あなたのことが大好きです

If we remove the koto [こと] from the sentence it will still mean I love you or I like you. So what is the use and meaning of koto in this sentence? Some claim that the koto [こと] adds a layer of indirectness, which is why Japanese people often use koto in sentences like I love you.

Since koto literally means figurative things, we can say that the koto [こと] in the sentence encompasses more the object (you). It would be as if I were saying I love all the things about you, or everything in you.

The koto [こと] makes it clear that you love the person romantically, rather than simply saying that you like the person as someone. It is quite essential, especially when we use the expression suki desu.

If we use koto [こと] we are showing a genuine love that focuses on the quality and inner self of the person, on unseen things. This expression conveys the depth of your love for the person.

To say I love you without koto sounds somewhat superficial; using koto we are saying that we like the person’s presence, their charm, their qualities, everything. It increases the degree of suki (好き) which also means just like.

Diving deeper into the expression koto

We can illustrate koto in the following way:

Why do Japanese people use koto in sentences like I love you?

Imagine that the first point is you, imagine that the second point is you with the koto (あなたのこと). By using koto we are focusing on the object and the verb. We can use koto in sentences with various verbs even if a literal translation to Portuguese doesn’t make sense, such as:

I want to hug you
あなたを抱きしめたい
Anata o dakishimetai

We can change to あなたのこと to focus and concentrate on the object (you). Although it literally means I want to hug all the things in you, the sentence is not wrong at all. The fact that the sentence has the word あなたのこと does not mean that we are literally trying to say all the things about you.

The expression こと can also be more specific, instead of encompassing all things. At no point do we use the expression everything in the sentences mentioned in the article.

Japanese words tend to be very indirect and broad, which makes understanding difficult even among Japanese people. I read a discussion on stackexchange that talked exactly about this, which made me write this article. There I realized that even Japanese people have difficulty understanding the real use of koto.

Although it means things, its kanji can also give the idea of something important, a fact, a reason, and a possibility. It is really complicated to understand the meaning of Japanese words without experiencing and using them daily. What is your opinion? We look forward to your comments to improve this discussion about the word koto.

Identical words with completely different meanings

Using Koto and Mono to learn Words

There is a way to double your learning in Japanese using the expressions mono and koto. We can see this in the video I will leave below from Yamada Tarou, or in our guide Verbs or Nouns? Transform your Japanese studies.

In summary, we can understand that some verbs become words by using koto and mono, try to understand this by looking at a list of words below:

Taberu [食べる] – To eat = Tabemono [食べ物] – Food;
Gataru [語る] – To tell; To narrate = Monogatari [物語] – Story;
Shi [し] – Verb suru + Koto [こと] – Thing = Shigoto [仕事] – Work;