Table of Contents
The Basics
Have you ever come across the phrase 〜たことがある?
Actually, it's the exact phrase you'd use to talk about that type of situation — whether or not you've experienced something before.
It's made up of the た form (the past tense) of a word or sentence followed by ことがある. So, if you have heard this phrase before, you can combine the た form of 聞く (to hear) with ことがある and say:
- 聞いたことがある。
- I've heard of it.
If you want to say that you've seen it, you can use the た form of 見る (to see) with ことがある and say:
- 見たことがある。
- I've seen it.
Pretty straightforward, right? We'll go through more examples, but for now, let's get started with a breakdown of ことがある and its conjugations, as well as its patterns of use.
Note that you can also use ことがある after a word in the present tense to talk about something you do on occasion. This use will be discussed on a separate page.
Breakdown of ことがある and its Conjugations
First, let's break down ことがある to learn how the phrase functions.
〜ことがある is made up of three components: the noun こと, the particle が, and the verb ある. Let's break them down.
First, こと is a versatile noun which in this case means "time(s)" or "occasion(s)." It can also serve the function of converting what comes before it into a noun and the meaning becomes "times when…". が marks the grammatical subject of the sentence, and ある is a verb that indicates the existence of something (thus, it is commonly translated as "there is…").
As a result, 〜た + ことがある directly translates to "There are times I did…" and can be used to talk about your past experiences.
Since 〜ことがある ends with the verb ある, it follows the verb's conjugation pattern. Here are some basic conjugations:
| Plain | Polite | Translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | 〜ことがある | 〜ことがあります | I have the experience of doing... |
| Past | 〜ことがあった | 〜ことがありました | I have had the experience of doing... in the past. |
| Negative | 〜ことがない | 〜ことがありません 〜ことがないです |
I never do... |
| Negative Past | 〜ことがなかった | 〜ことがありませんでした 〜ことがなかったです |
I have never had the experience of doing... in the past. |
The particle が can often be omitted in conversations, and in the case of 〜ことがある can be replaced with a different particle, such as は or も. The choice of particle will convey a certain nuance depending on the situation you're describing. Keep an eye out for the different particle uses in the sections below.
Patterns of Use
To talk about past experiences, you simply add ことがある to a word in the past tense. Let's break down how it works with different word types.
Verbた + ことがある
In its most common use, ことがある attaches to the た form of a verb. For instance, if you want to say that you've been to Japan, you use the past tense of 行く (to go), which is 行った, and say:
- 日本に行ったことがある。
- I've been to Japan.
If you aren't familiar with how to conjugate verbs in the た form, check out this page.
Adjectives in the Past Tense + ことがある
ことがある can also follow adjectives in the past tense. For example, if you're talking about how plane tickets to Japan used to be more affordable, you can use the past tense of the い-adjective 安い (cheap), which is 安かった, like:
- 日本行きのチケットが安かったことがある。
- There were times when a ticket to Japan was more reasonably priced.
And if you want to brag about how famous you were in Japan at one point, you can use the な-adjective 有名 (famous) with だった, like:
- 日本で有名だったことがある。
- There was a time when I was famous in Japan.
Nouns in the Past Tense + ことがある
If you also want to boast about having worked as a model in Japan, you can use the noun モデル (model) with だった and say:
- 日本でモデルだったこともある。
- There was also a time when I was a model in Japan.
In this second example, the particle が is replaced with も (also) to express that this information is supplementary to the previous sentence.
〜たことがある For Past Experiences
You already learned how 〜ことがある can be used to talk about things you've done in the past, but let's go into a little more detail in this section.
As a quick refresher, in this usage 〜ことがある follows the past tense. For example, if you combine 教える (to teach) in the past tense with ことがある, you can say:
- 日本語を教えたことがある。
- I've taught Japanese before.
Here, こと is turning 日本語を教えた (taught Japanese) into a noun, and 〜があります indicates the existence of the thing you're talking about, i.e. your experience. Combined, they literally mean, "There was a time when I taught Japanese," indicating that you have had that particular experience in the past.
Using 〜ことがある in this way carries the nuance of something that you have the experience of doing, but that it is not necessarily something you are doing presently. So, using it to describe something that happened somewhat recently would sound strange. For example, if you taught Japanese to someone just yesterday, it would be more natural to use the ordinary past tense rather than 〜ことがある.
- ❌ 昨日、日本語を教えたことがある。
⭕ 昨日、日本語を教えた。 - I taught Japanese yesterday.
Another thing to keep in mind is that 日本語を教えたことがある simply indicates the fact that you have previously taught Japanese, at least once. If you want to convey that you taught Japanese for a while, you need to use the ている form of the verb in the past tense, like:
- 日本語を教えていたことがある。
- I've taught Japanese for a while before.
Let's compare another set of examples to make sure you really have a handle on the difference in nuance. If you want to simply state the fact that you've lived in Tokyo, you can use the plain past tense of the verb 住む (to live), like this:
- 東京に住んだことがある。
- I've lived in Tokyo before.
But if you also want to indicate that you lived there for some time, you'd need to use the ている form instead and say:
- 東京に住んでいたことがある。
- I've lived in Tokyo for a while before.
If you learned that 〜ている is the equivalent of "-ing" in English, this sentence may sound like you're emphasizing that it was a temporary living situation, like saying "I was living in Tokyo." However, that's not necessarily the case, because in Japanese, 住んでいる is used to describe a current living situation and 住んでいた for a past living situation, no matter how temporary (or not).
〜たことがない For Things You've Never Experienced
The negative 〜たことがない can be used to describe an experience you never had, or a situation that has never occurred. For example, if someone asks if you've ever eaten natto, or fermented beans, you can say:
- まだ食べたこと（が）ないです。
- I haven't eaten it yet.
Notice that the particle, in this case が, is in ( ). That's because in this type of statement it's usually omitted. Using が here makes it sound like you're describing an objective circumstance and can come off rather stiff, like you're making a speech. You may also frequently hear が replaced by は, like:
- まだ食べたことはないです。
- I haven't eaten it yet.
Here, the English translation is the same, but the nuance of は is to indicate comparison, making the meaning "I haven't eaten it yet, though I've heard of it." Even though the "I've heard of it" isn't explicitly stated, it's implied by the use of は.
It's also worth noting that 〜たことがない is frequently used in combination with the time-related word まだ to signify that you haven't done something "yet," but you will, or you might, in the future.
Let's take a look at a scenario using まだ with たこと（が）ない. This time, assume no one asked, but you just want to state that you've never eaten natto.
- 納豆、まだ食べたこと(が)ないんです。
- I haven't eaten natto yet.
In this situation, you'll usually put ん between ない and です (or its more casual equivalent だ) to demonstrate that you're explaining yourself by supplying information that your audience doesn't have. If you'd like to know more about ん, check out our grammar page んだ・んです.
Beyond The Basics
〜たことがある For Asking About Past Experiences
〜たことがある can also be used to ask about others' past experiences. For example, to politely inquire if someone has ever visited Japan, you can say:
- 日本に行ったことがありますか？
- Have you been to Japan?
However, the above sentence with the particle が can come off as unnatural in regular conversational — it sounds like the opening line of a presentation or an introductory phrase for an article because the subject marker が indicates a new piece of information. It works well when formally introducing a topic for occasions like giving a presentation, but it can sound out of the blue in normal conversation.
For that reason, note that in conversations where you are simply asking about whether someone you're talking to has a specific experience or not, が is commonly replaced with は or って, or completely omitted, like:
- 日本に行ったことはありますか？
日本に行ったことってありますか？
日本に行ったこと、ありますか？ - Have you been to Japan?
Compared to は that is neutral and can be used in any situation, って and the complete omission are more colloquial, and less suitable for formal occasions.
However, this doesn't mean がありますか is never used in casual conversation, but it's often used for open-ended questions rather than yes-or-no questions.
- どこの国に行ったことがありますか？
- What countries have you been to?
〜たことがある For the Way Things Were
We went over plenty of examples of how たことがある can be used to describe past experiences, but it can also be used to describe the state of something in the past.
For example, suppose you're visiting your hometown with a new friend, and you come across a bakery that you recall used to be a sushi restaurant when you were little. To tell your friend, you can use 〜ことがある, like:
- この店は、寿司屋だったことがある。
- This place used to be a sushi restaurant.
In this case, you can also simply say 寿司屋だった (it was a sushi restaurant). However, the plain past version only indicates that it was a sushi restaurant in the past, whereas the 〜ことがある version implies that it might have been something else too, but you at least know it was once a sushi restaurant at some point in the past.
Let's continue the scenario. Your friend asks, "How was the sushi?" You remember that most of the time it was excellent, but there was one time the rice was really hard. So, you could say:
- シャリが硬かったことがある。
- There was this time when the rice was hard.
You could just say 硬かった (was hard) as well, but it would sound like you always had a bad experience with their シャリ (sushi rice). However, if you use 〜ことがある, it implies that there were one or two times the rice was hard, but not always.
To indicate the rice was "not always" bad, the particle も works well, too:
- シャリが硬かったこともある。
- There was this time when the rice was hard.
Because the particle も indicates "also," this condition can be presented as a one-off type of circumstance. You can also use the particle は, and say:
- シャリが硬かったことはある。
- There was this time when the rice was hard.
In this case, the nuance of は is to indicate a comparison, as in "the rice was hard on occasion, but most of the time it wasn't."