strictly speaking, こと means 'thing,' and refers more to more abstract concepts rather than tangible things. However, grammatically there are a *lot* of ways to use こと, so unless you give some more context I can't tell you how it's being used. I'd check out the grammar pages though, that might help!
I'll add my word to that, even though I can't give you any great grammar insight, since I happened to be irritated in listening comprehension by all those こと, ん, ている and such, that more than often do not have a clear justification. I felt that people kept talking though their sentence was finished and just tried to distract me from catching the one syllable that gives its sense to the verb. I don't know if anyone can relate. それは わかていないことなんですよね、if you see what I mean.
I wouldn't mind about こと right now (when it's not apparently necessary like in your sentence) since it doesn't impair comprehension, and little by little you'll just end up imitating the way japanese people talk. I consider it like another example of how there are the sentences that make sense, and then there are the sentences people would actually use, and the lots of awfully difficult to explain subtelties between them.
This said, I am definitely not a fluent speaker, so maybe somebody has a clear and complete understanding of こと and such that I'd love to hear. 教えて 下さい?
こと means "intangible thing" (compared to もの which means "tangible thing/object") and is often used as a nominalizer: meaning that you are turning non-nouns into noun forms/clauses.
日本語を読むことはやさしいです。Reading Japanese is easy. (The "thing" of reading Japanese is easy.) SFを読むことが好きです。I like reading science fiction. (I like the "thing" of reading SF.) その町がきれいなことは有名です。That city is famous for being pretty. (That city's pretty-"ness" is famous.)
In this usage, こと is interchangeable with の although こと expresses a more general thought while の is based off a personal observation.
Well, I was going off of memory for that sentence. I took japanese 202 last semester. I forgot a lot of of the grammatical stuff I learn since my teach had a habit of not drilling us on it. I need to find my textbook to find the chapter where koto in introduced (I've been home since may, but most of my stuff is still packed away >_<).
lilisin, I somewhat understand you explanation, thanks you :)
Jhyn, I agree with you when you say sometimes the sentences run on with a bunch of extra stuff. My girlfriend speaks like that sometimes, not to mention she uses slang also. I get so confused >_<
I read your post a few times, then attempted to put it into practice while practicing with my girlfriend. I understand it's use more. I have a better understanding of both koto and mono. Thank you :)
