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Grammar detail: 物(もの)vs 事(こと)

物(もの)vs 事(こと)  things
155 words
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Both
もの
and
こと
mean 'thing', but their usage is slightly different.
もの
usually refers to tangible objects, and it can be appended to the stem of a verb to refer to an object on which the verb can be performed. The best example is
もの
, food - literally 'a thing on which eating can be performed'. (The expression 食べる物 would be used if you wanted to explicitly refer to 'something to eat'.) In regional dialects, もの is often abbreviated to もん.
こと
usually refers to intangible things or activities. For example, いい事 means 'a good thing'. The expression 食べる事 would refer to the act of eating, rather than the thing eaten.
Addition of a word to a verb is technically known as 'nominalization' - turning a verb (eg
はし
る, to run) into a noun (走ること, the act of running). Several terms can be used to perform nominalization in Japanese, including もの, こと, and の.
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Kanji used in this grammar

ブツ   モツ   もの thing   
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ジ   ズ   こと thing; matter   
ショク   ジキ    food   たべる to eat   く to eat   
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ソウ   はし run   
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