いいこと, ii-koto - Meaning in Japanese

ii koto いいこと means literally a "good thing," but it's also used, in female speech, as an interjection to call somebody's attention before telling them something.

It's also spelled ii koto いい事, 良いこと, 良い事, 好いこと, or 好い事. A variant is yoi koto よいこと, よい事.

Manga: Rozen Maiden (chapter 9)

Normal Usage

The phrase ii-koto いいこと is the ii いい, "good," plus the nominalizer koto こと, also spelled koto 事, "thing." It normally means, as you'd expect, "good thing."

• kore wa ii koto da
  これはいいことだ
  This is a good thing.

It can be used, for example, to talk about good things happening (or not):

• nanka ii koto nai kana?
  なんかいいことないかな？
  Like, is there nothing good?
• Why nothing good happens?
• ii koto ippai
  いいこといっぱい
  Lots of good things.
• ii koto ga okoru
  いいことが起こる
  Good things happen.
• nanika ii koto demo atta no ka?
  なにかいいことでもあったのか？
  Has something good happened [or something]?
• Is that why you're so happy?

Manga: Doraemon ドラえもん (Chapter 1)

• nodoka na
  oshougatsu da naa
  のどかなお正月だなあ
  [It's such a] peaceful New Year, [isn't it?]
• kotoshi wa
  ii koto ga
  arisou da.
  今年はいいことがありそうだ。
  This year it seems good things will happen.
• Narrator: this year good things wouldn't, in fact, happen.

It can also be used when you do something good:

• ii koto wo shita いいことをした
  [I] did a good thing.
  [I] did something good.

Or when you say or hear something good. In the latter case, generally something you wanted to hear, something interesting.

• ii koto iu ne いいこと言うね
  [You] say a good thing.
  [You] say something good.
• Well said!
• ii koto kiita いいこと聞いた
  [I] heard a good thing.
  [I] heard something good.
  [I] heard something [interesting].
• I see, I see, very interesting. Very interesting, I say!

Manga: Black Lagoon (Chapter 8)

• Context: Two-Hands succinctly elaborates her argument against the notion of which the appearance and/or background history pertaining to a firearm is of any importance.
• hitotsu ii koto oseete yaru yo.
  一ついいことおせえてやるよ。
  [I'll] teach one good thing.
• Let me teach you something good.
• oseete is a distortion of oshiete.
• hitotsu ii koto oshiete yaru yo,
  一ついいこと教えてやるよ。
• yaru やる
  An auxiliary verb meaning "to do for you" here. Similar to ageru.
• konna mon wa na,
  こんなもんはな、
  This sorta thing, [you see],
• The furigana dots are for emphasis.
• konna mono こんなもの
  This sort of thing.
• utete atarya ii-n-da yo.
  撃てて当たりゃいいんだよ。
  [If you] shoot and [it] hits, [it's] good.
• That's enough.
• utete atareba ii 撃てて当てればいい
  Good if shoot and hit.

Usage in Female Speech

Sometimes, ii koto いいこと appears at the start of sentences and is used to call somebody's attention before saying something, similar to how ano ne あのね would be used.

This usage is female speech, or "female language," joseigo 女性語, so it's likely you'll only ever see female characters using ii koto like this.

Manga: Rozen Maiden (chapter 9)

• Context: Shinku explains how proxy battle-based anime plots work to a main character who just got himself into a proxy battle-based anime plot via magic contract.
• ii koto?
  いいこと？
  (interjection.)
• Just pretend it means "let me tell you something good," or "do you want to hear something good?" or "do you know what's good?" Or something like that, except it's not used before telling someone something good, it's just used to call their attention.
• tatakau tame niwa
  chikara ga iru no yo
  戦うためには力が要るのよ
  In order to fight, power is necessary.
• To fight, I need power. (no. wai.)
• demo
  dooru tantai dewa
  utsuwa ni suginai
  でもドール単体では器にすぎない
  But a doll alone doesn't exceed a vessel.
• However, a doll is but a vessel.
• I'm nothing more than a vessel.
• (insert some half-baked anime logic required to shoehorn a middle school kid protagonist into a violent poltergeistic killer doll battle royale here.)

Warui Koto 悪いこと

The phrase warui koto 悪いこと means "bad thing," it's the antonym of ii koto, having

• kore wa warui koto da これは悪いことだ
  This is a bad thing.
• warui koto wo shita 悪いことをした
  [I] did a bad thing.
  [I] did something bad.
• warui koto wo shite wa ikenai
  悪いことをしてはいけない
  warui koto shicha ikenai
  悪いことしちゃいけない
  Doing bad things is no go. (literally.)
  Doing bad things is bad.
  [You] shouldn't do bad things.

In Japanese,いいこと means literally a "good thing," but it's also used, in female speech, as an interjection to call somebody's attention before telling them something.It's also spelledいい事, 良いこと, 良い事, 好いこと, or 好い事. A variant isよいこと, よい事.The phraseいいこと is the i-adjective いい, "good," plus the nominalizerこと, also spelled事, "thing." It normally means, as you'd expect, "good thing."It can be used, for example, to talk about good things happening (or not):It can also be used when you do something good:Or when you say or hear something good. In the latter case, generally something you wanted to hear, something interesting.Sometimes,いいこと appears at the start of sentences and is used to call somebody's attention before saying something, similar to howあのね would be used.This usage is female speech, or "female language,"女性語, so it's likely you'll only ever see female characters usinglike this.The phrase悪いこと means "bad thing," it's the antonym of, having warui 悪い , "bad," as the adjective instead.