N2 Appearance, Impressions, and Feelings

~ことに: meaning, usage and examples

~ことに means: to my... / ...ly (expressing emotion).

Updated 9 November 2026 · By the My Senpai team · Spotted a mistake? Tell us

Examples

1. 驚おどろいたことに、彼かれは日本語にほんごが話はなせた。

   To my surprise, he could speak Japanese.

2. 嬉うれしいことに、試験しけんに合格ごうかくした。

   Happily, I passed the exam.

3. 残念ざんねんなことに、雨あめで花火はなび大会たいかいが中止ちゅうしになった。

   Unfortunately, the fireworks festival was canceled because of rain.

4. 不思議ふしぎなことに、その店みせにはいつも客きゃくがいない。

   Strangely, that shop never seems to have any customers.

When to use it

ことに opens a sentence with the speaker's feeling about what follows, like English "to my surprise" or "unfortunately." It goes with emotion words such as 驚おどろいた, 残念ざんねんな, うれしい, 不思議ふしぎな, as in 驚おどろいたことに、山田やまださんは五ごか国こく語ごが話はなせるそうだ. The feeling belongs to the speaker, and it comes before the fact it describes.

Nuance

Slightly formal and common in writing and polite speech. It shows the speaker's own emotion toward a fact that already happened, so the second part is a statement, not a request, question or plan. Only emotion words fit before it.

Compare

ことには has a different use: ～ないことには means "unless": やってみないことには分わからない. ことから gives a reason or basis: 似にていることから名前なまえがついた. ことに simply frames the following fact with the speaker's feeling, much like "luckily" or "sadly" at the start of an English sentence.

Tip: Read ことに at the start of a sentence as "-ly": 幸さいわいなことに = fortunately, 不思議ふしぎなことに = strangely. Use it with feeling words only.