Japanese with Manga

Experienced receiving a gold prize 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 Experienced receiving a gold prize with 〜た＋ことがある.
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Talking about drawing, Cocoa is boastful of her own ability.

ココア:
「これでも金賞(きんしょう)もらったことあるんだ」
“Believe it or not, I've actually won a gold medal before.”
Literal: “Even like this, I have a thing where I received a gold prize.”
リゼ:
「町内会(ちょうないかい)の小学生(しょうがくせい)低学年(ていがくねん)の部(ぶ)とかいうのはナシな」
“And don't tell me it was in the neighborhood association's lower-elementary division.”

Key Points

1もらったことある presents the prize as past experience
  • Cocoa says that receiving a gold prize is part of her experience, without locating the award at a stated past time.
2貰(もら)う becomes 貰(もら)った before ことがある
  • The pattern uses the verb’s past form, and casual speech omits が from ことがある.
3これでも frames the claim as surprising evidence
  • これでも has the sense of “believe it or not” or “even someone like me”, supporting Cocoa’s boast about her drawing skill.
4とかいうのはナシな rejects a possible category
  • とかいう distances Rize from the label, and ナシ rules out counting a neighborhood contest for younger children.

Vocabulary

(Gold prize)

金賞(きんしょう) means a gold or first-place prize in a competition.

(Elementary school student)

小学生(しょうがくせい) means an elementary school student. In Japan, this usually means a child in grades 1 through 6.

See Also

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