Grammar Info

N2 Lesson 9: 5/23

忽(たちま)ちImmediately, Quickly, Suddenly, In a moment or flash

Structure

たちまち + Phrase

Details

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About たちまち

たちまち is an adverb in that is used to convey the feeling of something happening 'suddenly', or 'in a flash'. The primary nuance with たちまち compared to other similar structures is that たちまち indicates that something happened spontaneously, and was not able to be controlled.

In many cases, たちまち will indicate something entering a new, ongoing state, or something being completed.

たちまち will often appear directly before the verb phrase that it is describing as being the new state.

Fun-fact

たちまち originally comes from the kanji structure 忽(たちま)ち, with the kanji itself meaning 'without thought'. This nuance is kept with たちまち, as all actions associated with the word indicate a lack of planning or thought before happening. Despite this, the kanji itself is rarely used in modern writing.

Related

Examples

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    少(すこ)し油断(ゆだん)したら、ライバルに忽(たちま)ち追(お)い越(こ)された。

    (I) was only slightly negligent, but (my) rival immediately overtook me.

    小(ちい)さな村(むら)で噂(うわさ)が忽(たちま)ち広(ひろ)がるのは当然(とうぜん)だよ！

    It's only natural that rumors would spread in a flash in small villages!

    うちの庭(にわ)を掘(ほ)ったら、忽(たちま)ち温泉(おんせん)が出(で)てきて驚(おどろ)いた。

    When I dug up my yard, an onsen suddenly sprung up and I was surprised.

    うちの犬(いぬ)は郵便(ゆうびん)配達員(はいたついん)を見(み)ると忽(たちま)ちフェンスにそって走(はし)り始(はじ)めるのだ。

    My dog starts to run along the fence immediately when he sees a postman.

    あんなに仲(なか)が良(よ)かったのに、あの事件(じけん)のせいで忽(たちま)ち解散(かいさん)だ。

    Even though they got along that well, because of that one incident they immediately broke up.

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