adverbial N2 uncommon politewritten
ことに — to one's ~
ことに
Builds on こと
Meaning
- to one's ~ (surprise / joy / regret) — fronting the emotion that the following fact arouses
Key sentence
驚いたことに、彼は全部知っていた。
To my surprise, he knew everything.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Emotion adjective / verb (past or な-form) | [嬉しい / 驚いた / 残念な]ことに + clause | 残念なことに |
When: Sets the speaker's emotional frame at the head of the sentence; somewhat formal/written.
Examples
困ったことに、鍵をなくしてしまった。
Annoyingly, I've lost my key.
ありがたいことに、みんなが手伝ってくれた。
Thankfully, everyone helped out.
When you can't use it
- Only with words expressing the speaker's emotion or evaluation (嬉しい, 悲しい, 驚いた, 困った, 幸いな). Not with a neutral fact (× 高いことに、買えなかった).
Notes
- The emotion word comes first; the fact that triggers it follows in the main clause.
See ことに in real sentences
Jengo shows ことに the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar.