Koto ga aru

There are two variations

• past tense
• non past tense

Past tense

Meaning

Something close to present perfect or There was a time when ....

Formation

Watashi wa Yooropa e itta koto ga aru/arimasu

I have been to Europe

Tamago wa takakatta koto ga aru

There wes a time when eggs were expensive

Examples

Yamada-san wa mada gorufu o shita koto ga nai

Yamada san hasnt play golf yet

Watashi wa nihon no shoosetsu o yoku yonda koto ga aru

There was a time when I read a lot of japanese novels

Non past

Meaning

Something happens from time to time

Formation

Watashi wa asa furo ni hairu koto ga aru

There are times when I take bath in the monring

kono omise no miruku waka tamani furui koto ga aru

Occasionaly there are times when this store has old milk

Note

Frequency adverbs like

• tamani (occasionally)
• tokidoki (sometimes)
• yoku (often)

sometimes appears in this expression