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Formation: Emotion V-た + ことには; い-adj + ことには; な-adj + な + ことには; N が／の + 言う + ことには

With an emotion word, ことには means the same as 〜ことに ('to my surprise', 'unfortunately'). It sounds more emphatic and more literary or old-fashioned, so it is mostly met in novels, essays and formal speeches. The main clause states a fact, not a request or an intention. A second use follows 言う or 話す: 〜が言うことには means 'according to what X says', and the sentence usually ends with 〜そうだ, 〜という or 〜とのことだ. Do not confuse it with 〜ないことには: that attaches to a negative verb and means 'unless X, Y can't happen'.

Variants: ことに、言うことには

Examples

• 驚いたことには、犯人は被害者の親友だった。
  What was astonishing was that the culprit was the victim's closest friend.
• 祖母が言うことには、昔この辺りは一面の田んぼだったそうだ。
  According to my grandmother, this whole area used to be rice paddies.
• 困ったことには、頼みの彼まで病気で倒れてしまった。
  What was troubling was that even he, the one we had been counting on, fell ill.

In real texts 0 occurrence(s)

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