Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 4: 12/18

～ておくTo do something in advance

Structure

Verb［て］+ おく
Verb［て］ +とく

Details

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    Standard

  • Rare Kanji

    置く

About ておく

When the conjunction particle て is followed by the う-Verb 置(お)く in Japanese, it regularly has the meaning of 'to do (A) in advance'. 置(お)く as a verb itself means 'to place something' (down), but also has the nuance 'to leave something alone', or to 'drop something' (like a topic). In this way, ておく can be thought of as meaning 'to do (A) and leave it (until later)'.

When using ておく, the 'future event' that the (A) action is being done for may be something that is coming soon, or may be something that the speaker doesn't want to ever come. Due to this, ておく is also regularly used when the speaker is doing something specifically to prevent another thing from happening.

Caution

ておく is sometimes contracted to とく (or どく in verbs where て would usually be said as で). Although this is not excessively common in conversation, it is very common in drama, manga, and similar media.

  • 机(つくえ)の上(うえ)に明日(あした)の旅行(りょこう)に必要(ひつよう)なパスポートを置(お)い とくね。
    I am going to leave the passport we need for the trip tomorrow on top of the table in advance. (So that I won't forget it later)
  • 水筒(すいとう)に水(みず)を汲(く)んどくね。
    I am going to fill this thermos up with water in advance. (So that it is available when I am thirsty)

Examples

--:--

    ここにリモコンを置(お)いておくね。

    I will put the remote here (in advance for future use).

    ちょっと調(しら)べておきます。

    I will do a little research in advance.

    帰(かえ)ってくるのが遅(おそ)くなるから、ご飯(はん)を作(つく)っておいた。

    I won't get home until late, so I made food in advance.

    明日(あした)のパーティーのためにジュースを買(か)っておきました。

    I bought juice (in advance) for the party tomorrow.

    今夜(こんや)明日(あした)のお弁当(べんとう)を作(つく)っておいてくれますか？

    Will you make tomorrow's bento (in advance) for me tonight?

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ておく – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (37 in total)

  • Superpnut

    Superpnut

    @nekoyama @EbonyMidget
    You both have very cool names, almost as cool as my username.
    Thank you for explaining that to me I wasn’t sure. I did think it’d just make the sentence directly incorrect but I wanted to check with people
    ありがと～～～

  • HaroldoNVU

    HaroldoNVU

  • ixxie

    ixxie

    Hello, I’m really struggling to get this grammar nailed down.
    This is the example sentence:

    冷蔵庫()で__________コーラを二()つください。（冷()やす)
    Could I have two of the colas that were being chilled (in advance) in the refrigerator?

    How do I know which form to conjugate first for the answer? Does ている or ておく get added to 冷やす first?

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