Grammar Info

N1 Lesson 1: 19/25

を良(い)い事(こと)にTo take advantage of

Similar to ～を言い訳に、～いい機会に

Structure

Verb + の + をいいことに（して）
Noun + （なの）+ をいいことに（して）
［い］Adjective + の + をいいことに（して）
［な］Adjective + なの + をいいことに（して）

Details

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About をいいことに

を良(い)いことに is an expression in Japanese that may be translated as 'to take advantage of (A)', and generally refers to someone that is using (A) as a good opportunity to do something that is either immoral, or irresponsible. This construction is a combination of を, the い-Adjective 良(い)い 'good', the noun こと 'thing', and the particle に. A more literal translation can be thought of as 'making good of (A), (B)', although the nuance is exactly the same as 'to take advantage of (A)' in English.

を良(い)いことに will be seen following verbs, nouns, い-Adjectives and な-Adjectives, but will be preceded by either の or なの in all cases, based on standard conjugation rules for の.

It is also quite common to see して attached to the end of を良(い)いことに without any significant change in either meaning or strength.

Related

Examples

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    夏休(なつやす)みのうちは住人(じゅうにん)の留守(るす)を良(い)い事(こと)に泥棒(どろぼう)が増(ふ)えるばかりだ。

    During summer vacation, taking advantage of absent residents, thefts only increase.

    先生(せんせい)の目(め)が悪(わる)いのを良(い)い事(こと)に試験(しけん)中(ちゅう)にカンニングしていた。

    Taking advantage of the teacher's bad sight, I cheated during the exam.

    コンマンはうちの子供(こども)が幼(おさな)いのを良(い)い事(こと)に家(いえ)の鍵(かぎ)や携帯(けいたい)を詐欺(さぎ)で巻(ま)き上(あ)げた。

    A con man took advantage of my child's young age and swindled (him) of (his) house keys and cellphone.

    田中(たなか)さんってば自分(じぶん)が大臣(だいじん)を良(い)い事(こと)に姪(めい)を省(しょう)で縁故(えんこ)採用(さいよう)した。

    That Tanaka-san... He took advantage of his position as a minister, and got his niece a job in ministry.

    記事(きじ)：「この期間(きかん)に多(おお)くの家族(かぞく)が親類(しんるい)を訪(おとず)れる。それを良(い)い事(こと)に空(から)っぽの家(いえ)に泥棒(どろぼう)にはいる人(ひと)もいる。」

    Article: 'During this period, many families visit relatives. Some people take advantage of it and steal from empty households.'

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      をいいことに – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (1 in total)

      • casual

        casual

        This is a relatively intuitive construction, but I have a couple of questions both about it and about Bunpro’s article as currently written:

        1

        を良いことに will be seen following verbs, nouns, い-Adjectives and な-Adjectives, but will be preceded by either の or なの in all cases, based on standard conjugation rules for の.
        「を良いことに」の前には、動詞、名詞、イ形容詞、ナ形容詞が置かれます。どの品詞も活用ルールにもとづいて、後ろに「の」もしくは「なの」が付きます。

        Is this really true?
        Nouns are regularly seen attached directly without なの, even in one of the examples given by Bunpro:

        夏休みのうちは住人の留守を良い事に泥棒が増えるばかりだ。

        2
        Can こと or another nominalizer be used instead of の or is this ungrammatical casual speech?
        For example:

        彼らは自分の主人に見えないことをいいことに俺を睨み付けている。

        3
        And if noun is possible both with and without なの, is there a difference?
        Let’s take one of Bunpro’...

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