Is “verb+こと+数量” a fixed pattern?


琴里がいるのは、士道たちのいる天宮アリーナから縦方向に距離を **隔てること一万五〇〇〇メートル**
、夜闇の中に浮遊する空中艦<フラクシナス>の艦橋だった。

Hi. What is the function of the こと here? I have never seen the construction
“verb+こと+数量”. Is it a fixed pattern? Thank you.




It is a fixed and rather bookish expression. It originated from
[漢文訓読](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun) tradition, a translation method
to read Chinese text word-by-word in Japanese. Japanese needs all elements
before the main verb, but Chinese put some
[adjuncts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjunct_\(grammar\)) after the verb
and the object, like English. In this case, it is customary to parse it as if
the verb is an outer subject to the adjunct.

> 不絶如縷 "as protracted as a thread" → 絶えざること縷のごとし  
>  処門下三年 "be a follower for three years" → 門下に処ること三年  
>  君美甚 "you are handsome, very much" → 君の美しきこと甚だし

This becomes a fixed pattern to focus on the adverbial element, emphasizing
how much the degree or amount is, not limited to numbers.

> 感動すること[しきり](https://jisho.org/search/%E9%A0%BB%E3%82%8A)だった "deeply I was
> grateful"  
>
> 心強いこと[この上ない](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%93%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%8A%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)
> "more than ever it is reassuring"  
>  世話になったこと数知れず "countless times one owes to somebody"  
>  悪戦苦闘すること半日 "a half day of hard struggle"

Note that the style itself is a part of idiom, so no particle follows こと.




It is a fixed and rather bookish expression. It originated from
[漢文訓読](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanbun) tradition, a translation method
to read Chinese text word-by-word in Japanese. Japanese needs all elements
before the main verb, but Chinese put some
[adjuncts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjunct_\(grammar\)) after the verb
and the object, like English. In this case, it is customary to parse it as if
the verb is an outer subject to the adjunct.

> 不絶如縷 "as protracted as a thread" → 絶えざること縷のごとし  
>  処門下三年 "be a follower for three years" → 門下に処ること三年  
>  君美甚 "you are handsome, very much" → 君の美しきこと甚だし

This becomes a fixed pattern to focus on the adverbial element, emphasizing
how much the degree or amount is, not limited to numbers.

> 感動すること[しきり](https://jisho.org/search/%E9%A0%BB%E3%82%8A)だった "deeply I was
> grateful"  
>
> 心強いこと[この上ない](https://jisho.org/search/%E3%81%93%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%8A%E3%81%AA%E3%81%84)
> "more than ever it is reassuring"  
>  世話になったこと数知れず "countless times one owes to somebody"  
>  悪戦苦闘すること半日 "a half day of hard struggle"

Note that the style itself is a part of idiom, so no particle follows こと.

