ところだ (Location) Japanese Grammar Lesson

ところだ (Location) Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: X is in a place where it takes Y amount of time to get there from Location Z.

Construction:

(Destination Noun は) + (Current Location Noun から) + Means of Transportation Noun + Duration Noun + のところだ
- E.g. 学校がっこうはここからバスで十分じゅうぷんのところだ。[The school is in a place where it takes 10 minutes by bus to get there from here.]

Notes:

ところだ is a simplified form of ところにある. It is used as a set idiomatic expression with a destination, a departure location, a means of transportation, and a time duration in order to express “[DESTINATION] is in a place where it takes [DURATION] to get to there by [MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION] from [CURRENT LOCATION]“.
- E.g. 私わたしのうちは駅えきから歩あるいて10分ぷんのところだ。[My house is in a place where it takes 10 minutes to get there on foot from here.]

If the context is clear, ところだ can be further simplified to だ.
- E.g. 学校がっこうはうちからバスで30分ぷんだ。[The school is in a place where it takes 30 minutes to get there from my house.]

Example Sentences:

私わたしのうちは駅えきから歩あるいて10分ぷんのところだ。[My house is in a place where it takes 10 minutes to get there on foot from here.]

学校がっこうはここからバスで十分じゅうぷんのところだ。 [The school is in a place where it takes 10 minutes by bus to get there from here.]

その病院びょういんはここから車くるまで十五分じゅうごふんのところだ。[That hospital is in a place where it takes 15 minutes to get there by car from here.]

WILD Examples:

This is a flyer for some curry event in Tokyo. The underlined line says: 西ヶ原にしがはらみんなの公園こうえんもすぐ1分ぷんの**ところだ**よ [*It’s in a location just 1 minute past Nishigahara Minna no Park*]

This is a Tabelog review (basically the Japanese version of Yelp) for a restaurant in Tokyo. The underlined portion says: 阿佐ヶ谷あさがや駅えきからは歩あるいて七しち八はち分ぷん**のところだ** [*It’s in a location seven or eight minutes from Asagaya Station on foot.*]

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