"このアニメは見たことがあります。"
Translation:I have seen this anime.
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Can anyone explain the difference between "このアニメを見ました" and this case "このアニメは見たことがありました" i can't understand the role of koto ga arimasu since the meaning is the same
このアニメを見ました。 I saw this anime. (past tense)
このアニメは見たことがあります。 As for this anime, (saw it) exists. -> I have seen this anime. (present perfect)
このアニメは見たことがありました。 As for this anime, (saw it) existed. -> I had seen this anime. (past perfect)
The word こと turns the verb or adjective clause before it into a noun, similarly to の. Unlike の, it doesn't carry the sense that the activity being discussed in the subclause is at the same time as the outer clause. So it's a way of abstractly discussing situations or activities.
This sounds like a formal statement to me. Can it be used for, say, giving a testimony? As in, "it's true that I've watched this movie."
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So の makes something the gerund/present participle, and こと makes something a past participle? Are there active/passive meanings behind it like in English?
The way this construction was explained to me was
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(x {plain past verb}) ことがあります
-
the fact of having done (x) currently exists
It has an implication of having experienced something, without that nasty, first person, "I have done this" direct phrasing that Japanese loves to avoid.
- The fact of (I watched the movie) exists.
Both ことand の are what are called "nominalisers" - they turn the (verb) phrase before them into a noun.
First, I think the second sentence should end in "あります."
Second, it seems like a different tense. Using your examples, the first is "I saw this anime" which is strictly past tense of "I watch this anime." The second is "I have seen this anime." Literally, it might be closer to a consise way of saying "I have this experience of having watched this anime."
I understand "X koto ga arimasu" as being literally "The fact/experience of X exists". The straight statement is a direct personal statement, this emphasises the fact in a slightly more polite-neutral way. Think "I saw the anime" vs "Yes, I have watched the Anime"
There are parallel phrases like "X koto ga dekimasu" - "I can X"
Was wondering the same. I think the former is a case of simple past ("saw"), the latter of present perfect ("have seen").
"I saw this anime"... It's a very language-learning kind of construction, i.e., simple but not that commonly used, so not that useful. It doesn't give any context to why you're saying it. With a time indicator, it might: "I saw this anime yesterday." That means the point of the sentence is what you dis yesterday.
The -koto- construction, by contrast, indicates that there was a time, at any point in the past near or far, where you saw the anime. I think another good translation might be: "I've seen this anime before," or "I've already seen this anime."
How comes that sometimes a perfectly good kanji is not used in some situations? I mean 事 is neither hard to write nor uncommon. There are no confusing double meanings or exotic readings to it, so why not use it. To save four measly strokes? 日本人はここに漢字を使わないんてすか？ (Note, how I used 「んてすか」hoping for an explanation^^)
事 is a tangible "thing". こと, as in this sentence, serves a grammatical function, like a particle. I made a longer post about this here: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/29248237
Have you ever written a sizeable amount of japanese by hand? Saving 4 strokes on a common word like こと is nothing to scoff at.
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Honestly, the more I learn about Japanese, the more it starts to sound like a strange conlang. I mean, this sentence is essentially "The 'saw that anime' thing exists". That seems so loaded, though it also has its own charm.
For me it would be nice if this were under a section for the past tense rather than a theme so I can repeat this construction and understand it. As much as I think I get こと, I would like to fully understand its grammatical purposes.
Depends on the situation since certain situations take different verbs than expected, but 見る generally has both meanings (or in other words, it doesn't seem like there is a difference between the two in Japanese).
It's an abbreviation of アニメーション from the English word "animation". Words of foreign origin are written in katakana.
can anyone offer an explanation as to why this isn't ’このアニメを見ることがある？’
I feel like I had previous been taught to utilize this function in present tense - "I have the experience of watching this" or something. Maybe I am just 100% wrong, but is there is a context in which you WOULD use present tense with this structure?
You can use こと with the present tense to make a verb into a noun.
食べる (taberu) - eat
食べることが好きです。(taberu koto ga suki desu) - I like eating.
見る (miru) - watch/see
アニメを見ることが好きです。 (anime o miru koto ga suki desu) - I like watching anime.
When we talk about experiences, we need to use ta-form ことがある. We use the past form because we have the experience of having done the action in the past.
寿司を食べたことがあります。 (sushi o tabeta koto ga arimasu) - I have eaten sushi before.
このアニメを見たことがあります。 (kono anime o mita koto ga arimasu) - I have watched this anime before.
You can read more about ta-form ことがある at Learn Japanese Adventure: https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-grammar-experience.html
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This one isn't working if you type Japanese or if you use the "見た” block instead of the "見”＋ "た" blocks. 3/9/2021
so i'm assuming from this questions duolingo gives us that "koto" is similar in use as "no ga" and "no de"? what are the nuances though?
を should also be correct.
One function of は is to show contrast. When you use は, you're saying , "I've seen this anime (compared to other anime that I have not seen)".
