タグ: V-ta ato de

Today’s sentence construction can be compared with what we learned in the exercise A5 of the section 18.

A5 S18

1. [V1-dic] mae ni, [V2] masu.

Example; Neru mae ni, Ha o Migaki masu. (Before I go to bed, I brush my teeth.)

A2 S34 (of today)

2. [V1-ta] ato de [V2] masu.

Example; Ha o Migaita ato de, Nemasu. (After I brushed my teeth, I go to bed.)

Comparing the two examples, you will find the following differences;

– The verb in subordinate clause and main clause have swapped.

– The verb in front of “mae” takes dictionary form, while the verb in front of “ato” takes Ta-form.

– The particles after “mae” is “-ni”, while the particle after “ato” is “-de”.

Note that the dictionary form works as future tense for most of the verbs, and the Ta-form works as perfect tense. The particle “-ni” is about direction toward, and “-de” is about restriction, although the functions of these two particles are not limited to these simple definitions.

The followings are example sentence of today’s sentence construction “[V1-ta] ato de [V2] masu.”

3. Kimatsu-shiken ga Owatta ato de, Inaka ni Kaerimasu. (After the final examinations ended, I am going back to my hometown.)

In 3, the subject in the subordinate clause is “Kimatsu-shiken”. Although the subject in the main clause is “Watashi”, it is not explicitly mentioned in the main clause.

4. Satou-san no Happyou o Kiita ato de, Shitsumon Shi masita. (After listening to Sato-san’s presentation, I asked her a question.)

Instead of a verb in Ta-form, sometimes “[Noun] no” is used in front of “ato de”;

5. Undou no ato de, Shawa’a o Abi masu. (After worked out, I take a shower.)

6. Jugyou no ato de, Toshokan e Iki mashita. (After the class, I went to the library.)

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This post was written with reference to the exercise A2 on Section34 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”