とき

とき Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Noun

Essential Meaning: At the time when / When

Construction: 

• (Verb / い-Adjective) informal + 時とき
  • E.g. 話はなす時とき [When X speaks]
  • E.g. 食たべる時とき [When X eats]

• な-Adjective Stem + [な / だった] + 時とき
  • E.g. 静しずかな時とき [When X is quiet]

• Noun + [の / だった] + 時とき
  • E.g. 先生せんせいの時とき [When X is a teacher]

Notes:

• The noun とき (時とき in kanji) simply means “Time“, but when used with a modifying clause it means “When“, “At the time when“, or “At the time of“.
  • E.g. 出発しゅっぱつの時とき [At the time of departure]
  • E.g. 学生がくせいの時とき [When I was a student]
  • E.g. ジュースが安やすい時とき[At the time when juice is cheap]

• The clause that precedes 時とき is a relative clause, so it must follow the rules of relative clauses. Namely:
  • (1) The subject of the relative clause must take the が particle if it is different from the subject of the main clause.
    • E.g. メアリーは私わたしが日本にほんにいた時ときフランスにいた。[When I was in Japan, Mary was in France.] The subject of the relative clause (i.e. 私わたし) is marked by が, while the subject of the main clause (i.e. メアリー) is marked by は.
  • (2) The predicate of the relative clause is typically informal, and the copula だ changes to な for な-Adjectives and の for nouns.
    • E.g. 静しずかな時とき [when X is quiet] 静しずかか is a な-Adjective, so the copula だ changes to な in a relative clause.
    • E.g. 学生がくせいの時とき[when X is a student] 学生がくせい is a noun, so the copula changes to の in a relative clause.

• The time particle に after 時とき is optional. Time is emphasized slightly more when に is present, and the action itself is emphasized more when に is absent.
  • E.g. 私わたしは学生がくせいの時ときよく勉強べんきょうした。[I studied hard when I was a student.]
  • E.g. 私わたしは学生がくせいの時ときによく勉強べんきょうした。[It was when I was a student that I studied hard.]

• With the structure Sentence 1 時とき Sentence 2, if Sentence 2 is in the past tense and Sentence 1 expresses a state (rather than an action), Sentence 1 can be in either the past or nonpast tense.
  • E.g. 私わたしは日本にほんにいる時とき田中たなか先生せんせいに会あった。[When I was in Japan, I met Mr. Tanaka.]
  • E.g. 私わたしは日本にほんにいた時とき田中たなか先生せんせいに会あった。[When I was in Japan, I met Mr. Tanaka.]
  • E.g. 肉にくが高たかい時ときは魚さかなも高たかかった。[When meat was expensive, fish was also expensive.]
  • E.g. 肉にくが高たかかった時ときは魚さかなも高たかかった。[When meat was expensive, fish was also expensive.]

• When Sentence 1 in Sentence 1 時とき Sentence 2 expresses an action (rather than a state), the meaning of the sentence changes depending on:
  • (1) The tenses of Sentence 1 and Sentence 2:
    • E.g. Present Tense + Present Tense: 私わたしはご飯はんを食たべる時とき手てを洗あらう。[I wash my hands when I eat meals.]
    • E.g. Past Tense + Present Tense: 私わたしはご飯はんを食たべた時とき手てを洗あらう。[I wash my hands after I’ve eaten my meals.]
    • E.g. Present Tense + Past Tense: 私わたしはご飯はんを食たべる時とき手てを洗あらった。[I will have washed my hands when I eat my meals (i.e. I wash my hands right before I eat meals).]
    • E.g. Past Tense + Past Tense: 私わたしはご飯はんを食たべた時とき手てを洗あらった。[I washed my hands right after I finished my meal.]
  • (2) Whether or not the verb is a verb of movement:
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いく時とき寿司すしを食たべるつもりだ。[I’m going to eat sushi before I leave for / on the way to Chicago.]
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いった時とき寿司すしを食たべるつもりだ。[I plan to eat sushi after I’ve arrived in Chicago.]
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いく時とき寿司すしを食たべた。[I ate sushi before I left for Chicago.]
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いった時とき寿司すしを食たべた。[I ate sushi after I arrived in Chicago.]
  • (3) Whether or not the action in Sentence 1 and Sentence 2 take place simultaneously:
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いく時とき車くるまで行いく。[When I go to Chicago, I go by car.]
    • E.g. *私わたしはシカゴへ行いった時とき車くるまで行いく。[When I went to Chicago, I will have gone by car.] This is ungrammatical.
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いく時とき車くるまで行いった。[When I went to Chicago, I went by car.]
    • E.g. 私わたしはシカゴへ行いった時とき車くるまで行いった。[When I went to Chicago, I went by car.]

• Note that in English, “When” is often used to express conditions (e.g. “You can watch TV when you finish your homework“; “You’ll be surprised when you see it“) 時とき is not used in this way because it refers to time in a literal sense. To express a condition, たら or と (Natural Consequence) can be used instead.
  • E.g. それを見みたらおどろきますよ。[You’ll be surprised when you see that.]
  • E.g. それを見みるとおどろきますよ。 [You’ll be surprised when you see that.]
  • E.g. *それを見みる時ときおどろききますよ。[You’ll be surprised when you see that.] 時とき can not be used to make a conditional statement.
  • E.g. *それを見みた時ときおどろききますよ。[You’ll be surprised when you see that.] 時とき can not be used to make a conditional statement.

Example Sentences:

私わたしは日本にほんにいた時ときお茶ちゃを習ならった。[When I was in Japan, I learned about tea.]

マークは試験しけんの時ときにかぜをひいた。[Mark caught a cold at exam time.]

松本まつもとさんは朝あさごはんを食たべる時ときいつもテレビを見みる。 [Matsumoto-san always watches TV when he eats breakfast.]

テリーはジュースが安やすい時ときにたくさん買かっておいた。[When the juice was cheap, Terry bought a lot of it.]

僕ぼくは静しずかな時ときしか本ほんを読よまない。[I only read books when it’s quiet.]

私わたしが大学生だいがくせいだったとき妹いもうとはまだ三みっつだった。[When I was a university student, my sister was still only three.]

これは出発しゅっぱつの時ときにわたします。[I’ll give this to you at the time of departure.]

WILD Examples:

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