Try using this pattern in the comments!

こんにちは Gaynorさん！(Konnichiwa Gaynor-san! "Hello Gaynor!")

お元気です！(Ogenki desu! "I'm well!") ありがとうございます。日本に行ったことがないんですね。ぜひ、いつか行けるといいですね！(Nihon ni itta koto ga nai n desu ne. Zehi, itsuka ikeru to ii desu ne! "You haven't been to Japan yet. Hopefully, you can go someday!") 😄

Please let me know if you have any questions.

ありがとうございます！

Team JapanesePod101.com

こんにちは JapanesePod

おげんきですか.

日本にいったことがありません。Hopefully it will change in the future. 😄

Hi Shannon,

Thank you very much for trying to help Chelsea! While your explanation is straight forward and makes sense, please see below for some corrections to the Japanese sentences you've written:

東京ディズニーランドをいたことがありません。

>> 東京ディズニーランドへ行ったことがありません。or

>> 東京ディズニーランドに行ったことがありません。

東京ディズニーランドを行きません。

>> 東京ディズニーランドへ行きません。or

>> 東京ディズニーランドに行きません。

Sincerely,

Miki H

Team JapanesePod101.com

For Chelsea's question:

"Can anyone explain why I have to make the verb a normalizer?　Like why cant's just say 京都に行きました"

I think it's the difference between, "I've done this thing" and "I did this".

This structure is useful for saying which experiences you've had!

Because it transforms the verb into a noun. You can say that you've had the experience of doing the thing, rather than just saying, I did the thing.

I try to translate this sentence structure a little bit more literally so I know when to use it, such as:

東京ディズニーランドをいたことがありません。

> I haven't had the experience(thing) of going to Tokyo Disneyland

or "I have not been to Tokyo Disneyland."

Whereas if I used the structure you mentioned,

東京ディズニーランドを行きません。

I did not go to Tokyo Disneyland.

For example, if I was talking about a specific trip to Japan, it would make sense to not use the nominaliser こと that turns things into a noun, because I'm already talking about a specific thing - my trip to Japan, in which I did not go to Tokyo Disneyland.

But if I was talking generally, it would make sense to say that I have not had the thing of going to Tokyo Disneyland.

Waltさん、

こんにちは。

I'm sorry for the late reply.

I think Sono is on the same page as I am, and I would probably said the same thing regarding hiragana use.

The reason why we don't/didn't say 'yes, that is the kanji for こと' is because the usage of kanji there is not

very normal or common. It is, yes, 事 if you want to write with kanji, but too much usage of kanji where you should

write the word in hiragana is one of the problems we have amongst Japanese natives.

The standard usage is hiragana, but in a very special case or super formal document, some people might

prefer using kanji. (And please note that even now I said 'some people' and 'might'.)

This is rather complicated issue.

If you want a simple answer, 'yes, 事 is the kanji, but no, we don't write it in kanji and it should be in hiragana'.

Hope this helps!

Natsuko (奈津子),

Team JapanesePod101.com

Thank you for your response, but unfortunately it doesn't really answer my question.

You wrote, "You can use Hiragana こと for this case." I agree that one can use hiragana rather than kanji, but if somebody wants to use kanji rather than hiragana, which kanji is correct for this situation?

Or perhaps you want to tell me that in this case, the word こと is written ONLY with hiragana, rather than with kanji. If so, that is something I need to know.

In any case, I am trying to learn kanji, and therefore I want to learn which kanji to use if the need ever arises.

You also suggested referring to material in the learning center. Unfortunately, my "basic membership" does not give me access to the learning center, so there is no way I can look at the material you suggested. Do you have another suggestion?

Hi Walt,

Thank you for your comment.

You can use Hiragana こと for this case.

https://www.japanesepod101.com/learningcenter/reference/grammar/171

Keep up the good study!

Cheers,

Sono

Team JapanesePod101.com

Hello. Sorry for bothering you, but do you have an answer for my question about the kanji for こと in the pattern sentence "富士山に登ったことがあります"? Is 事 the kanji for こと in this case?

In the sentence

富士山に登ったことがあります。 (Fuji-san ni nobotta koto ga arimasu.)

is 事 the kanji for こと in this case?

If not, which kanji is correct here?

Chelsea san,

Konnichiwa.

京都に行きました is a perfect sentence.

Could you please tell me the sentence which has a nominalizer?

Then I will describe that point. ?

Yuki 由紀

Team JapanesePod101.com

Can anyone explain why I have to make the verb a normalizer?　Like why cant's just say 京都に行きました

Peter Lloyd san,

Konnichiwa.:smile:

Thank you for your post.

If you have any questions, please feel free to as us.

Yuki 由紀

Team JapanesePod101.com

Thanks to Eric and Risa for the clear and excellent descriptions and examples of the various sentence structures.

Very valuable.

peter