タグ: toki

We have learned some conditional clauses in which a verb clause is placed in front of “toki” at A1 and A2 of the section 23. Verbs are in Dictionary form and Nai-form in A1, and verbs are in Dictionary form and Ta-form. The examples are;

– Douro o Wataru toki, Kuruma ni Ki o Tsukemasu. (When I cross a road, I pay attention to cars) — V-dic+toki,

– Nihongo ga Wakaranai toki, Sumaho de Shirabemasu. (When I don’t understand Japanese, I check it using my smartphone.) — V-nai+toki,

– Nihon ni Kita toki, Mada Ie ga Arimasendeshita. (When I arrived at Japan, I still didn’t have a house to live.) — V-ta+toki

In the construction of conditional clause with “toki,” “toki” seems to be a kind of conjunctive particle because the dependent clause ends with “toki,” as below;

[conditional clause] + toki, [Main clause].

But “toki” is a noun, because “toki” means “time”. Therefore, the verb needs to be Dictionary form, Nai-form, or Ta-form so that the verb can be placed in front of a noun (in this case, “toki” ).

Now, given that “toki” is a noun, how about putting a conditional clause whose predicate is a Noun, an I-adjective, and a Na-adjective?

1. Atsui toki, Eakon o Tsukemasu. (When it is hot, I turn the air-conditioner on.)

2. Genkina toki, Undou shimasu. (When I feel energetic, I do exercise.)

3. Tesuto no toki, Gambarimasu. (During the examination, I try my best.)

Remember the basics how to modify a noun by an I-adjective, a Na-adjective, and another noun.

[Stem of I-adjective]+ i + [Noun] — 1; Atsu + i + toki

[Stem of Na-adjective]+ na + [Noun] — 2; Genki + na + toki

[Noun1] + no + [Noun2] — 3; Testo + no + toki

This post was written with reference to the exercise A3 on Section23 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”