# ....koto da



## ihitokage

Hi,
sorry I am asking again ^^' but I am a bit confused with this sentence ending.
Whay do some sentences end with "koto da"? Or sometimes "n da (yo)"? (If I understand that correctly, n da is the same as no da and no is similar to koto in this case not?)

Example: 彼女の成功はあり得ることだ。
Why not only: 彼女の成功はありえる。

Sorry if it's stupid question 

BTW: One more thing. I don't wanna create a new topic because of that but is it truth that you cannot use deshou and darou with watashi? If yes you use kamoshirenai instead?
Thanks


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## frequency

むずかしいなあ・・
Yes the two mean the same thing. 彼女の成功はありえる。is just SVC.

I feel like あり得ることだ is one set, a common expression. The possible thing is that she will succeed? No, I can't say yes lol.
Then this one emphasises the mention? No, I'm not sure. Sorry I'm not sure wholly..you can choice either, and they are just a matter of how we express it. Then which is stronger and better? Both are fine.

I add a link, but I couldn't find one that can explain your case. See the second entry and (2)形式名詞.


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## ihitokage

frequency said:


> むずかしいなあ・・
> Yes the two mean the same thing. 彼女の成功はありえる。is just SVC.
> 
> I feel like あり得ることだ is one set, a common expression. The possible thing is that she will succeed? No, I can't say yes lol.
> Then this one emphasises the mention? No, I'm not sure. Sorry I'm not sure wholly..you can choice either, and they are just a matter of how we express it. Then which is stronger and better? Both are fine.
> 
> I add a link, but I couldn't find one that can explain your case. See the second entry and (2)形式名詞.



Thanks at least for this. I heard it many times but I guess that it is similar to ですけど. Just making the sentence longer .


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## Tonky

English too has 2 ways to say this.
"It is possible that she succeeds."
"She can/could succeed."

I did not understand your last question. (And you are supposed to create another thread for another question, I'm afraid.)


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## 涼宮

As Tonky-san said it is more about possibilities. ことだ after the infinitive at the end can be used to make suggestions, to say it's necessary/good, for example: 

大学に入りたければ一生懸命勉強することだ。 If you want to go to university you *should* study hard. 
海外に住む間は両親に時々連絡することだ。 Sometime you *should* get in contact with your parents while you're living overseas.

About your last question, you should open another thread but, yes you can use だろう and でしょう with 1rst person to either mean ''possibility'' or ''doubt''.


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## ihitokage

Many thanks, both of you ^^


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## frequency

ihitokage said:


> I heard it many times but I guess that it is similar to ですけど.



Oh they are both 'She's likely to succeed.', 'Her success is likely.'

I have to add information.
See, for example, 温度の上昇はあり得る。This is good for academic prose. But 彼女の成功はあり得ることだ。is more colloquial and usual.


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## ihitokage

frequency said:


> Oh they are both 'She's likely to succeed.', 'Her success is likely.'
> 
> I have to add information.
> See, for example, 温度の上昇はあり得る。This is good for academic prose. But 彼女の成功はあり得ることだ。is more colloquial and usual.



So it has no meaning. Just making the sentence more casual?


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## Vaan

ihitokage said:


> So it has no meaning. Just making the sentence more casual?


Actually, no.
You see, the structures of the sentences are different.
The skeletons of the sentences are
成功はことだ。 A is B.
成功はありえる(or ありうる） A + Verb.
In the first one, the focus of the speech is still on the word 成功, whereas the second states purely that the success is possible. I mean, the flow of the context is slightly different in these two.
Which style to choose depends on what the writer wants to express or stress and how he wants to continue.

So 'Koto da' hasn't been just *appended* to make the sentence longer or casual.


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## frequency

ihitokage said:


> So it has no meaning. Just making the sentence more casual?



If do I say it casual? U~~m, not so casual very much. That's the way it is. Usual and..one of the styles to express it. Naturalness, correctness aside, this sounds like: There's something likely (to happen)―her success.

You said that using ことだ makes the sentence longer and I know you joked lol..remember, the sentence just ended up getting longer.


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## ihitokage

frequency said:


> If do I say it casual? U~~m, not so casual very much. That's the way it is. Usual and..one of the styles to express it. Naturalness, correctness aside, this sounds like: There's something likely (to happen)―her success.
> 
> You said that using ことだ makes the sentence longer and I know you joked lol..remember, the sentence just ended up getting longer.



Ok  thanks


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## ihitokage

Alright one more example please. I don't really fell it yet.

有り難い（です）！ - It helped me a lot.
ありがたいことです。 - It was a great help for me. I really appreciate it.

source: http://maggiesensei.com/2010/05/18/ありがとうarigatou-how-to-say-thank-you-in-japanese/

How is that just adding koto da makes the sentence so much more powerful or how to say that. Like the gratitude is greater than in the first one?


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## frequency

むずかしいなあ・・
You've already got an answer; they are almost the same. And I don't think that they have the 'gratitude levels' much.
Right now I see them like,
ありがたいです is 'Thank you', 'How helpful', just describing how it is; it's ありがたい.
ありがたいことです is suggesting that sth happens, and speaker says 'That is helpful.'

Just a moment..give me a time.


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## ihitokage

frequency said:


> むずかしいなあ・・
> You've already got an answer; they are almost the same. And I don't think that they have the 'gratitude levels' much.
> Right now I see them like,
> ありがたいです is 'Thank you', 'How helpful', just describing how it is; it's ありがたい.
> ありがたいことです is suggesting that sth happens, and speaker says 'That is helpful.'
> Just a moment..give me a time.



*Thanks, I am sorry. I think I need to pay more attention to this to get the right feeling about that.*


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## frequency

That's okay. Add 'thankful', too.


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## slt25

Hi,  I just found this forum while searching for help with translation. I don't know much Japanese. Could anyone help me to translate this? It's from a video game:  悪魔の力を利用することだこのプログラムあればできるだろう。  I read through this thread but I still couldn't quite understand the 'koto da' part. Something like "If you use this program you can harness the power of demons" would make sense in the context but even if that was the translation I couldn't say what 'koto da' meant.


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## Vaan

That is two separate sentences.
(それは or そのためには)悪魔の力を利用することだ。
このプログラムあればできるだろう。


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## slt25

Hey thanks! Now it makes more sense to me.


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