ことにTo my delight, surprise, regret, etc.
ことに introduces a fact together with the speaker’s emotional or evaluative reaction to it, such as delight, surprise, regret, or relief.
How the sentence is organized
The opening phrase gives the speaker’s reaction, and the rest of the sentence states the fact being evaluated. A comma often makes this two-part structure clear in writing. The reaction normally applies to the whole following statement, not merely to one noun.
Three common formations
These examples use an i-adjective, a na-adjective, and a past feeling verb.
嬉しいことに、私は留学中にできた友人たちと今も連絡を取り合っている。
To my delight, I am still in touch with the friends I made while studying abroad.
Analyze残念なことに、今回の調査では原因を特定できなかった。
Unfortunately, the cause could not be identified in this investigation.
Analyze驚いたことに、修復された時計は百年前と同じように動き始めた。
Surprisingly, the restored clock began running just as it had a hundred years earlier.
AnalyzeChoose a genuine evaluation
The expression before ことに should naturally express a reaction to the following fact. Common choices include 嬉しい, 残念な, 不思議な, 幸いな, 驚いた, and 困った. An arbitrary description is usually a poor fit unless the context clearly turns it into an evaluation.
The foregrounded variant
不思議なことには、古い記録にも同じ地名が残っている。
Strangely enough, the same place name also appears in old records.
AnalyzeHere the added topic marker makes the speaker’s sense of strangeness more prominent.
Related emotional constructions
ことに comes before a fact and comments on it. By contrast, ことか closes an exclamation about degree, ことといったら launches a more dramatic account of an extreme quality, and 限りだ directly states that an emotion has reached an extreme.
More examples
幸いなことに、乗客にけがはなかった。
Fortunately, none of the passengers were injured.
Analyzeありがたいことに、地域の方々が作業を手伝ってくださった。
Thankfully, local residents helped with the work.
Analyze困ったことに、この装置は古すぎて交換部品がもうない。
The trouble is that this device is so old that replacement parts are no longer available.
Analyze信じられないことに、彼は地図を見ずに山頂までたどり着いた。
Incredibly, he reached the summit without looking at a map.
Analyze嬉しいことに、応募した三作品すべてが最終選考に残った。
To my delight, all three submitted works made it to the final selection.
Analyze意外なことに、最も単純な方法が一番効果的だった。
Surprisingly, the simplest method was the most effective.
Analyze