Japanese with Manga

Experience with sleepovers with 〜た＋ことがある

Grammar Explanation: Previous experience with 〜た＋ことがある

Manga panel from ご注文はうさぎですか？ showing example of Experience with sleepovers with 〜た＋ことがある.
ご注文はうさぎですか？ » Volume 1 » Page 69

Cocoa thinks Rize is nervous about staying overnight with her and Chino.

リゼ:
「いや…　親父(おやじ)の部下(ぶか)に誘(さそ)われたワイルドなキャンプしか経験(けいけん)した事(こと)ないから…」
“Well... I've only had the experience of those wild camping trips my dad's subordinates invited me on...”
Literal: “Well... because I have no thing experienced except wild camps my dad's subordinates invited me to...”
ココア:
「ワイルド？」
“Wild?”

Key Points

1〜た事(こと)がある = have had the experience of…
  • The highlighted pattern expresses past experience at least once.
  • Here Rize is saying the only kind of overnight experience she has had is camping.
2Casual negative: した事(こと)ない
  • The full form is した事(こと)がない, with が omitted in casual speech.
  • So しか した事(こと)ない means “I’ve done nothing except that”.
3しか〜ない = nothing but
  • 「キャンプしか…した事(こと)ない」 means camping is the only kind of stay-over experience she knows.
  • That is why she sounds uncertain about an ordinary sleepover.
4The long noun phrase modifies the camping trips
  • 「親父(おやじ)の部下(ぶか)に 誘(さそ)われた ワイルドなキャンプ」 means “wild camping trips I was invited on by my dad’s subordinates”.
  • That whole chunk is what 経験(けいけん)した and した事(こと)がある refer to.
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