How to translate nominalised adjectives from Japanese to English (e.g. スイスがきれいなこと)


I am currently struggling with wrapping my head around こと and how it
nominalises adjectives/sentences with adjectives to turn them into noun
phrases.

With verbs, it's easy:

> べんとうを食べる (I eat bento/I will eat bento)  
>  べんとうを食べること ((the act of) eating bento)

However, with adjectives (and particularly nouns) I'm not quite understanding
the transformation, other than the fact that the phrase now functions as a
noun/noun phrase and can be moved around the sentence.

> スイスがきれいだ (Switzerland is beautiful)  
>  スイスがきれいなこと ((as for the fact that?) Switzerland is beautiful... or (on the
> notion that???) Switzerland is beautiful).

This sentence was taken from: スイスがきれいなことは写真で知っています。

To me, the nominalised adjective/noun phrase does not _sound_ like a noun,
merely a statement that Switzerland is beautiful.

Any helpers? If I'm not clear I'm happy to try and elaborate further.




There are several ways to translate "adjective + こと":

  1. Add "being" before the adjective, [optionally with a possessive noun to show its subject](https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2guides/guides/wrtps/index-eng.html?lang=eng&lettr=indx_catlog_p&page=90SDm90b7Xlw.html). This is probably the most literal choice, but this way of showing a subject may sound stilted in English. 

>     * 美しいこと  
>  being beautiful
>     * 彼女が美しいこと  
>  her being beautiful
>     * 彼女が美しいことは皆に知られている。  
>  Her being beautiful is known to everyone.
>     * 健康なこと  
>  being healthy

  2. Simply use the noun version of the adjective, such as "beauty", "friendliness" and "wealth". These nouns mean either "the degree of ～" and "the fact that ～" depending on the context. But practically speaking, this approach works in most cases. 

>     * 美しいこと  
>  (one's) beauty
>     * 彼女が美しいこと  
>  her beauty
>     * 彼女が美しいことは皆に知られている。  
>  Her beauty is known to everyone.
>     * 健康なこと  
>  (one's) health

  3. Use `the fact that + (clause)`. This is the most verbose choice, but it works. 

>     * 美しいこと  
>  the fact that someone is beautiful
>     * 彼女が美しいことは皆に知られている。  
>  The fact that she is beautiful is known to everyone.
>     * 健康なこと  
>  the fact that someone is healthy

