ことといったらyou wouldn't believe how …
You bring up one thing you saw or went through and say it was beyond describing: "you wouldn't believe how small this room is". It can be delight or a complaint.
You wouldn't believe how small this room is. There isn't even space to open a suitcase.
How to form it
Thing + の + い-adjective + ことといったら
The thing takes の, not the は of a plain sentence: 部屋の狭いこと, "how small the room is". A な-adjective takes な: 字のきれいなことといったら. About something that is over, the adjective can be in the past: 暑かったことといったら.
- Before it
- One thing, marked with の, and the quality that struck you: 狭い, 暑い, 汚い, おいしい, 静かな, きれいな.
- After it
- A detail that shows how extreme it was, often ending in ほどだ. Or nothing at all.
- Tone
- Amazed, and a little theatrical. Pleased or fed up, either way.
- Where you'll meet it
- Telling someone about a thing you met for yourself: in conversation, a letter, a travel piece. Not in a report.
In use
You wouldn't believe how hot it was that day. The sweat ran off me just standing there.
You should see the state of my son's room. There's nowhere to put your feet.
His handwriting is unbelievably neat. It looks printed.
People often stop there
といったら is "if I were to tell you". Leave the rest unsaid, and the other person fills in "…I couldn't begin to".
Have you seen that photo yet?
I have. The sea was unbelievably blue!
Close neighbours
The same outcry after a noun, often one in さ: 寒さ, 美しさ. Then こと isn't needed. With ない on the end, the sentence is finished.
The cold last night was something else. It made my ears hurt.
Ends the sentence, with a question word: "how …!" More written, and mostly about what you felt.
Thank goodness you're safe. You have no idea how worried I was.
Check yourself
1What is B saying?
A
Choose an answer to see why.
2Which one fits?
昨日の
Choose an answer to see why.
More sentences
The sunrise from the summit was so beautiful that for a while I couldn't speak.
That inn was so quiet you could hear the clock out in the corridor.