i hope im not annoying anyone with how many help topics i make haha....anways... i got this sentence from the book "all about particles"
UNとは、国連のことです。
“UN" refers to the United Nations

im not sure what こと's meaning is in this sentence....any help? thanks!

According to the J-wife the sentence is equal to "UNとわ、国連です。”　The こと just makes it sound less direct, and therefore more natural. Difficult to explain the nuance. Just remember the pattern, and keep listening for it in context.

BTW, how do you find that book? I have been tempted to pick it up.

When I try to formulate the meaning, the word that jumps up is "about".

Something along the lines of:
UNとは、国連です。 - "UN" is the united nations.
UNとは、国連のことです。 - "UN" is about/refers to the united nations.

Think of it literally. " "UN" is, a thing of United Nations".

Like yukkuri_kame says, it's just a nuance and it's very common. As you read more Japanese stuff, you will come upon it a lot.

It's quite a nice way to say "about" in Japanese as it creates a far more pleasant sounding sentence;

eg.

この本は何の題目ですか。

漢字のことです。

nuance hu?.....hmm interesting i have come across こと a lot enough to really leave me shaking in my shoes trying to get the meaning of it in a sentence.

oh and for yukkuri_kame. i got the book on amazon. i originally wanted to get it at a store but i couldn't find it.

thanks guys for your expertize.

こと is something that you cannot touch.
もの is something you can touch.

mentat_kgs Wrote:こと is something that you cannot touch.
もの is something you can touch.

mentat, that's a grammar explanation!

Omg, should I erase that?