72470
This is a general question about what to place after nominals when connecting
them to constructs like こと.

Lately I've realized I've either forgotten or never knew when I should be
using だということ over であること or ということ, etc., with 名詞・形容動詞 (and now I'm wondering
about な too), at least in the spoken language. From my understanding,
だということ・であること are preferable in 文語, and I found [this
answer](https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1236237462)
discussing that a little bit, so I'd rather focus on the spoken language here.

I've scoured my resources, as well as stackexchange and some of the Japanese
web for hours and come up short, though. I found [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/48788/so-what-is-the-
rule-for-this-construction/48803#48803) that describes the grammar of these
constructions and says that they're all fine, but I don't know their 使い分け.
This has become problematic for me lately (at least mentally) when
communicating at work and with friends in Japan.

I'd appreciate an answer specifically pointing out the following:

  1. Which constructions from the linked question can be used with friends, coworkers (either above or below you), your boss, strangers on a bus, kids, etc. Some kind of politeness or formality ranking might be helpful for me here.

  2. How one would choose a construction in the case where more than one is appropriate or the case where it's fine to use any of them.

  3. If there is really 0 difference whatsoever between some of these, such that it would be fine to literally just choose your favorite and only use that one (or else to 適当にどれでも選ぶ), pointing that out specifically as well/which ones are identical would be appreciated.

I've listed the constructions below, with my own guesses about their
usage/formality (ordered by my guess from most to least formal):

>   * であるということ (in presentations, on the news, to a special guest)
>   * であること (in presentations, on the news, to a special guest)
>   * だということ (to anyone except friends/family)
>   * なこと・のこと (to anyone, perhaps depending on usage)
>   * なの (to anyone, perhaps depending on usage)
>   * だと (to friends/family/lower-ranking people)
>   * だって (to friends/family/lower-ranking people)
>

I'd like more information about usage depending on grammar or the specific
situation, as well as the 意味合い of these constructs.

I've included example sentences below for everything. Everything below here is
ripped from the linked question. Credit to
[@Chocolate](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/users/9831/chocolate)

* * *

Basically:

>   * 連体形(attributive form) + こと
>   * 終止形(predicative/terminal form) + ということ
>

So grammatically speaking you can use...

  * 有名な+こと (有名な is the attributive form)
  * 有名である+こと (ある is the attributive form)
  * 有名だ+ということ (有名だ is the terminal form)
  * 有名である+ということ (ある is the terminal form)

as in:

> この漫画が有名なことを知っていますか。  
>  この漫画が有名であることを知っていますか。  
>  この漫画が有名だということを知っていますか。  
>  この漫画が有名であるということを知っていますか。

As an aside, you could also say:  
この漫画が有名なのを知っていますか。  
この漫画が有名だと知っていますか。  
(or この漫画、有名だって知ってる？ in colloquial speech)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-29T16:13:33.623
72175
2019-11-04T01:54:21.460
2019-10-11T08:36:21.203
27987
27987
question
grammar particle-と spoken-language nouns copula
Nominal connectors in embedded sentences: 名詞・形容動詞 ＋「である」「だという」「な」等 (+ こと) の使い分けについて
(By [request from the
OP](https://japanese.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/2045/was-an-answer-
deleted-how-can-i-view-the-deleted-answer), I've un-deleted the section of my
original answer regarding registers of formality in Japanese speech.)

Your first question is regarding which construction can be used with people of
what relation to you in speech.

In order to fully understand this, it would be pertinent to take a look at
Japanese societal structure.

Within the context of Japanese society there is a common concept called
**内と外** (sometimes written ウチとソト). ウチ refers to those people with whom you
have a close relationship, and ソト refers to everyone else. In this [2008
paper](https://repository.tku.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/11150/485/1/jinbun125-07.pdf),
the author argues that modern Japanese society actually has a third class of
relationship which, while part of ウチ, tows the line between it and ソト (内外集団).

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XyIPYm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XyIPYm.jpg)

**内内集団** (ウチ) would be people like close friends and family.

**内外集団** (ウチ) would be people you aren't necessarily close to, but who belong
to the same organization/company/department you do. The degree to which
someone is ウチ or ソト to you varies within this class on a continuum. For
example, going from more ウチ to more ソト, you have within a company people on
the same team as you → people in your department → people in other
departments.

**ソト** would be "strangers, 'others', and outsiders" to the other two groups.

The experience/age relationship of the speakers also plays a role in the level
of politeness that is to be used, with casual speech being much more
acceptable in conversation from a 年上 to a 年下 or a 目上 to a 目下 in the 内外集団
group, even if closer toward the ソト side, such as a company president to a
regular employee in a non-formal setting.

So, dividing by relationship class, we have:

自分 → ウチ

> 〜だってこと/の (this sounds more casual/rough)  
>  〜だということ/の  
>  〜だって (this sounds more casual/rough)  
>  〜だと  
>  〜な/のこと、〜なの

自分 → 内外集団の内の方

> 〜だってこと/の (目上→目下、語尾が敬語になっていれば目下→目上も可能)  
>  〜だということ/の  
>  〜だって (目上→目下、語尾が敬語になっていれば限り目下→目上も可能)  
>  〜だと  
>  〜な/のこと、〜なの

自分 → 内外集団の外の方、ソト

> 〜だってこと/の (目上→目下 in a more casual setting)  
>  〜だということ/の  
>  〜だって (目上→目下 in a more casual setting)  
>  〜だと  
>  〜な/のこと、〜なの

I feel that this mostly answers your first question.

(I'm still thinking about your second and third questions)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-13T14:52:46.837
72470
2019-11-04T01:54:21.460
2019-11-04T01:54:21.460
35632
35632
72175
answer