～る所(ところ)だAbout to, On the verge of

Most Recent Replies (14 in total)

• 

  Jake

  about to
  on the verge of

  Structure

  • Verb + ところ

  View on Bunpro

• 

  CrisH

  One of the example sentences starts with 「 友達ともだちが話はなし手てを待まっている時とき、電話でんわ」which is translated to “When friends are waiting for the speaker, phone call”.

  もっとはっきりになり方がありますか。(Intended as: Can this be made clearer?) I realise it’s not actually part of the grammar point, but I still try to interpret the full sentences and - 日本で意味があるかどうか (whether or not this means something in Japanese) - it doesn’t make much sense to me in English, so either the original part or the translation could use some 改正 (revision) in my opinion.

• 

  Manab

  I think some information is lacking here. The fact that ところ can take multiple particles such へ、を、に、で should be clarified and the difference explained a little bit. Same thing with other grammar points like 以外(that can take に and で with a sligth meaning difference) and くらい that sometimes appear as くらいに.

• 

  joesan13

  in the grammar point 。。るとこるだ (about to; on the verge of) in what situation would you omit the と? i just got a bunpro question wrong saying the correct answer is just ころ… the example is below:

  新しい言語を習い始める “ころ” です。

• 

  somekrazyfool

  Does anybody know what tokoro is doing in this sentence?
  自分で洗おうか、それともクリーニングに出そうか迷うところです。

• 

  mathijsdm

  The way I read it it’s being on the verge of (ところ) giving into the temptation (迷う) to just sent it to the cleaners. No guarantees though.

• 

  somekrazyfool

  That makes sense to me but im just confused with the English translation that is :

  自分で洗おうか、それともクリーニングに出そうか迷うところです。
  I am hesitant. Shall I wash it myself? Or rather , shall I send it off to the dry cleaners?

• 

  mathijsdm

  It might be a case of loose translation, though indeed 迷う can also mean to waver instead of to give into temptation. In that case it might be a case of ところだ “moment” “S.o. / s. t. is in the state wher; is just about to do s.t., is doing s.t., > has done s.t., or has been doing s.t.” (DoBJG pg 496)

  An example sentence :

  春江は晩御飯を食べているところだ/です。
  Harue is in the midst of eating her supper

  So here it would be “being in the midst” of “being hesitant” then.

• 

  somekrazyfool

  so for that meaning to “being in the midst” of “being hesitant” the verb doesnt need to be in the Verb［ている］+ ところ + だ form? It also occurs in the dictionary form?

• 

  mathijsdm

  Yes, though the exact interpretation can change somewhat. With the ている form you know it’s in the midst of eating supper, with the dictionary form it can be the “just about to do s.t.” meaning so :

  春江は晩御飯を食べるところだ/です。

  Harue is just about to eat her supper. It can also be

  春江は晩御飯を食べたところだ/です。
  Harue has just eaten her supper.

  春江は晩御飯を食べていたところだ/です。
  Harue has been eating her supper.

• 

  somekrazyfool

  Ahhh interesting, I get it now, I also do have the DoBJG but the fancy literary terminology throws me off most of the times. Thanks alot!

• 

  mathijsdm

  No problem! Though I do advice a read through in the DoBJG, it is six pages on this grammar point, so might help clear some confusion up

• 

  MikkaT

  Hi,
  in the explanation there is no hint that it can stand before で or なので

  So in which cases だ or だから is not needed and what are the differences in meaning?

• 

  valid13

  Same thing as MikkaT
  

  ...
• 

  nekoyama

  There is a hint that implies that it can come before で or なので:

  It’s a noun; a phrase ending in ところ can be used in the same way as any other noun phrase. It can come before で, it needs a な before ので, etc.

  On the other hand, だ can’t come before で or なので.
  だから can work before で purely on a grammatical level but why insert it? The question isn’t asking for a “reason” or anything and I don’t think it would make much sense here either.