JLPT N5+ · Time and reason

〜とき

Marks the time of an action or state

Meaning

Marks the time of an action or state.

Formation

  1. とき is preceded by a modifying form: Vる / Vた / Aい / Aな / Nの
  2. Vるとき is before or during, Vたとき is after

When to use it

Core use
Marks the time of an action or state

Example

日本にほん行ったいったとき写真しゃしん撮りとりました

When I went to Japan, I took photographs.

Important notes

  • Word forms and particle choice depend on the pattern's role in the sentence.

Common mistakes

  • Do not reorder or reshape the highlighted parts to match English word order.

Similar grammar

    All N5 grammarOpen in the app