This paper analyzes numerous examples of the use of the formal noun koto, as a means of highlighting some problems that need to be addressed with the teaching of Japanese grammar. -In the process of examining these examples, I found a gap between students' awareness of koto and what teachers expectthem to learn. In these instances, an effective measure would be to encourage students to improve their understanding of the relationship between the components of a sentence and the various parts of speech. This would help them construct sentences with greater ease and better understand the relationship between the subject and the predicate. -Koto has various usages, so teachers should inform their students of the need to be careful of the context in which it is used.