In Japanese, you’ll generally use とたん[totan], ばかり[bakari] or ところ[tokoro] to talk about back-to-back actions. Here’s a basic description of when to use each one:
Use とたん[totan] where you could use “as soon as” in English.
Use ばかり[bakari] to mark something that “just” happened.
Use ところ[tokoro] to mark something that happened “just now.”
In this post, we’ll look more closely at these three expressions — how to use them, and when to use each one. If you use these expressions correctly, your stories will sound clearer and more vibrant. Let’s find out more!
The Japanese word とたん[totan] means “as soon as,” connecting two actions that happened back-to-back. However, unlike “as soon as,” とたん[totan] comes after the first action, rather than before it.
イタリアンレストランに入ったとたん、いいにおいがした。
Itarian resutoran ni haitta totan, ii nioi ga shita.
As soon as I entered the Italian restaurant, I smelled something nice.
Sometimes you’ll hear people use に[ni] after とたん[totan]. This is totally optional and doesn’t change the meaning much.
カーテンを 開けたとたんに、部屋が明るくなった。
Ka-ten o aketa totan ni, heya ga akaruku natta.
When (I) opened the curtains, the room became bright.
However, there are some really important differences between とたん[totan] and “as soon as”!
In English, we often use “as soon as” to talk about things that will happen in the future, as in:
I’ll clean my room as soon as I finish this game.
とたん[totan] is not used this way! It is only used to talk about back-to-back actions in the past. This means it will generally follow the past tense.
雷が聞こえたとたん、妹が泣き出した。
Kaminari ga kikoeta totan, imōto ga nakidashita.
As soon as I heard the thunder, my sister started crying.
The main case where とたん[totan] will not follow a ta-form is when it follows a like その[sono](that). But the demonstrative should still refer back to a ta-form!
雷が聞こえた。そのとたん、妹が泣き出した。
Kaminari ga kikoeta. Sono totan, imōto ga nakidashita.
I heard the thunder. Right after that, my sister started crying.
When you use とたん[totan], the second event or situation is directly triggered by the first action. This means that the second action is not the speaker’s choice. For example:
❌私は牛乳を飲んだとたん、りんごを 食べた 。
Watashi wa gyūnyū o nonda totan, ringo o tabeta.
As soon as I drank milk, I ate an apple.
Compare the example above with the acceptable use below:
✅牛乳を飲んだとたん、おなかがいたくなった。
Gyūnyū o nonda totan onaka ga itakunatta.
As soon as I drank milk, I got a stomachache.
When using とたん[totan], the action that happened first should always come first in the sentence.
As soon as I entered the restaurant, I smelled something nice.
I smelled something nice as soon as I entered the restaurant.
This means that とたん[totan] will almost never come at the end of a complete sentence.
There are some very limited cases where とたん[totan] might come at the end, but this is usually only done if there’s a lot of context or to sound very poetic. In normal Japanese, とたん[totan] won’t end a sentence.
The word とたん[totan] is only used after actions that actually happened, so you shouldn’t use it after a negative verb.
❌ 雨が降らなかったとたん、外に出た。
Ame ga furanakatta totan, soto ni deta.
As soon as it didn’t rain, I went outside.
You’ll notice it sounds strange in English too! This is one reason why とたん[totan] is more like “as soon as” than “when,” which would probably sound fine in the sentence above.
In Japanese, we use ばかり[bakari] to mark something that just happened. Because the action it marks is always complete, ばかり[bakari] will always follow the past tense.
今、食べたばかりです。
Ima tabeta bakari desu.
I just ate.
Phrases with ばかり[bakari] are often used to describe a noun. Notice that the phrase with ばかり[bakari] will come before the noun, and the particle の[no] is used to connect them.
買ったばかり の スマホをなくした。
Katta bakari no sumaho o nakushita.
I lost a smartphone that I had just bought.
Keep in mind, though, that ばかり[bakari] is only used with actions that actually happened, so it’s not used after negative verbs.
❌ 今、食べなかったばかりです。
Ima tabenakatta bakari desu.
So if you want to say something like “I didn’t just eat,” you won’t use ばかり[bakari] in Japanese.
Much like the English word “just,” ばかり[bakari] is also used as an equivalent of “only”:
その子は泣くばかりで、わけを話してくれなかった。
Sono ko wa naku bakari de, wake o hanashite kurenakatta.
The child just cried and didn’t tell me the reason.
Check out our post on how to say “only” in Japanese to learn more about this use.
You can also use ところ[tokoro] to mark something that happened “just now.” It’s also usually used after the ta-form.
今、ここに着いたところです。
Ima, koko ni tsuita tokoro desu.
I just now arrived here.
食べたところなので、おなかがすいていません。
Tabeta tokoro nanode, onaka ga suite imasen.
(I) just now ate, so (I) am not hungry.
Unlike the other markers we’ve seen, ところ[tokoro] can be used after the plain form as well, to describe something that is about to happen!
昼ごはんを食べるところです。
Hiru gohan o taberu tokoro desu.
(I) am just about to eat lunch.
You can use an event marked by ところ[tokoro] to describe the time of another event, when telling a story. In this use, it will often mark an action that was still in progress when the main event happened. This makes it different from とたん[totan], which marks finished actions.
テレビを見ていたところ、ドアのベルがなった。
Terebi o miteita tokoro, doa no beru ga natta.
Just when I was watching TV, the doorbell rang.
テレビをつけたとたん、ドアのベルがなった。
Terebi o tsuketa totan, doa no beru ga natta.
As soon as I turned on the TV, the doorbell rang.
The phrase ところで[tokoro de] means “even if…”, when it’s attached to a ta-form. This expression lets you talk about a potential sequence of events.
When attached to an affirmative verb, the second action is usually not the ideal outcome:
今から行ったところで、間に合わない。
Ima kara itta tokoro de, maniawanai.
Even if I went now, I wouldn’t make it.
When attached to a negative verb, the second action is not the worst outcome:
今日野菜を食べなかったところで、病気になるわけじゃない。
Kyō yasai o tabenakatta tokoro de, byōki ni naru wakejanai.
Even if I didn’t eat vegetables today, it’s not like I would get sick.
ところ[tokoro] and ばかり[bakari] can both be used after a ta-form to describe something that just happened, so what’s the difference?
ところ[tokoro] is used for something that objectively “just” happened. For example:
アメリカに来たところなので、まだ英語が話せません。
Amerika ni kita tokoro nanode, mada eigo ga hanasemasen.
Because I only just now arrived in the U.S., I cannot speak English.
ばかり[bakari] is used when the speaker feels like it “just” happened. For example:
アメリカに来たばかりなので、まだ英語が話せません。
Amerika ni kita bakari nanode, mada eigo ga hanasemasen.
Because I just arrived in the U.S., I cannot speak English.
Also, remember that while ばかり[bakari] is only used after the past tense, ところ[tokoro] can be used with the plain form, to describe something that is about to happen.
In this post, we’ve talked about how to use とたん[totan], ばかり[bakari], and ところ[tokoro] to describe back-to-back events. Here’s a quick summary:
とたん[totan] is used like “as soon as,” though it only describes past events when the second action is out of the speaker’s control.
ばかり[bakari] means “just,” and it describes an action that is subjectively recent.
ところ[tokoro] means “just now,” and describes an action that is objectively recent.
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out these とたん[totan], ばかり[bakari], and ところ[tokoro] exercises! Happy learning!
