301 - とき

Yo. Today we're gonna talk about 時(とき)which is the kanji for "time."

More specifically, this particular construction:

This lovely chart was taken from the:

東京外国語大学言語モジュール
とうきょう がいこくご だいがく げんご モジュール
The Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Language Module
Literally: "Tokyo + foreign language + university + language + module"
... or something like that. You can find where I got the picture from here and the homepage for the Japanese language section here. Anyways, that site is completely in Japanese, so it may not be the best resource, but it does have good charts that you can look at, whenever you feel like... looking at charts.

That chart just means that if you have a sentence that ends with:

- Plain form verb - 普通形(ふつうけい)"plain form"
- い adjective
- な adjective
- Noun + の

and attach it with とき, you can put a second sentence after it, making it mean:
"When S1, S2"

Oh, by the way, a plain form verb just means it has no ます or any of its variations, which means a plain form verb can include:
- Dictionary form(買う)
- Plain past tense(買った)
- Plain negative form(買わない)
- Plain negative past tense form(買わなかった)

Simple, right? ...right?

Well, even if you didn't get it, you'll be sure to get it after these examples:


Example City

わたしは寝るとき、パジャマを着ます。
わたし は ねる とき、 パジャマ を きます。
When I go to sleep, I wear pajamas.
Literally: "I + は + go to sleep + とき、+ pajamas + を + wear"


わたしが料理をした時、父はとても喜びました。
わたし が りょうり を した とき、 ちち は とても よろこびました。
When I did the cooking, my father was very pleased.
Literally: "I + が + cooking + を + did + 時、+ father + は + very + was pleased"
Note: The が here adds emphasis to the previous word, which in this case is
わたし: "When I did the cooking," my father was pleased because it was me, not so much because there was food. (Although I would be very pleased either way, food 万歳!(ばんざい)Banzai!)
Note 2: Banzai is just like an expression of "Hooray!" As in, "Hooray for food!"


悲しいとき、わたしはよくお酒を飲む。
かなしい とき、 わたし は よく おさけ を のむ。
When I'm sad, I often drink sake/alcohol.
Literally: "Sad + とき、+ I + は + often + sake/alcohol + を + drink"
Note: The first part is still a sentence; the わたし is implied here because we see right afterwards that わたし is doing the drinking. Implied nouns 万歳!


病気のときは、家にいなさい。
びょうき の とき は、 いえ に いなさい。
When you're sick, stay home.
Literally: "Sickness + の + とき + は、+ home + に + be (command)"
Note: Wait! Why is there a は after this one?! I'm not sure... Sorry. m(_ _)m One possibility could be that this sentence was brought up out of the blue, and so, we needed the は to introduce the new topic.
Note 2: I asked a native speaker, and explaining this は is complicated. It would also be completely natural to say には here. However, if we just said に (with no は), then the nuance would also be that when you're not sick, you should not be in the house. Why? I don't know. Because a native speaker told me so. ^^




What to do now

Alright that pretty much wraps it all up. Now you can make these constructions yourselves! You can talk about what you did right after reading a daily lesson...

I finished the daily lesson とき, blah blah blah.

Or, what you did when you were eating...

I was eating とき, blah blah blah.

Or, anything else that you would like to say that you did while or right before/after doing something else or right before/after something happened, or even telling someone else to do something while or right before/after doing something else, or right before/after something happened! Wow, that was a mouthful. Have fun. Oh, and remember:

出かけるときは服を着なさい!
でかける とき は ふく を きなさい!
When you go out, make sure to wear some clothes!
Literally: "go out + time + は + clothes + を + wear!

Or don't. I don't have control over what you wanna do. Just make sure to keep reading daily lessons even if you get arrested for indecent exposure. And review your flashcards, if you have. And listen to audio lessons, if you have. And read some novels in Japanese, if you have. And all of that other good stuff.

Then you can say:
I was in jail for indecent exposure とき, I kept up with daily lessons, Anki flashcards, audio lessons, and read Japanese novels!

We would all be impressed at your impeccable Japanese studying diligence, and would all be disgusted at your indecent display.

頑張れ!
がんばれ!
Keep swimming!
Literally: "Try hard?/Try your best?/Something along those lines"




This lesson was written by Robert, a guest contributor.




Bonus Sentences:

次の文を普通形の文に直しなさい。
つぎ の ぶん を ふつうけい の ぶん に なおしなさい。
Put the following sentence(s) into plain form.
Literally: "next + の + sentence + を + plain form + の + sentence + に + fix (=[command form])."

私は毎朝コンビニでサンドイッチを買う。
わたし は まいあさ コンビニ で サンドイッチ を かう。
I buy a sandwich at the convenience store every morning.
Literally: "I + は + every morning + convenience store + で + sandwich + を + buy."

昨日、新しいノートパソコンを買った。
きのう、 あたらしい ノートパソコン を かった。
I bought a new laptop yesterday.
Literally: "yesterday, + new + laptop PC (=notebook PC) + を + bought."

無駄なものは買わない。
むだ な もの は かわない。
I don't buy unnecessary things.
Literally: "wasteful / unnecessary + thing + は + don't buy."

結局何も買わなかった。
けっきょく なにも かわなかった。
I didn't buy anything in the end.
Literally: "in the end / after all + nothing + didn't buy."




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