I'm near the end of the Genki textbooks, and this is confusing me a little. They have two example sentences for ことにする, one that ends in the present and one that ends in the past:
車を買うことにしました。
We have decided to buy a car.
あの人がかわいそうだから、あまり文句を言わないことにします。
I will not make too many complaints. I am feeling sorry for him already.
As far as I can tell, both of these situations describe something that you have decided in the past, but will do in the future. The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps the second is meant to be a habitual action in the future, but something you haven't started doing yet.
Can anyone give me insight as to the difference between these two forms?
車を買うことにしました。
We have decided to buy a car.
あの人がかわいそうだから、あまり文句を言わないことにします。
I will not make too many complaints. I am feeling sorry for him already.
As far as I can tell, both of these situations describe something that you have decided in the past, but will do in the future. The only thing that I can think of is that perhaps the second is meant to be a habitual action in the future, but something you haven't started doing yet.
Can anyone give me insight as to the difference between these two forms?
