日本語道場

Nihongo Dojo — N3 → N2

Grammar

N3

~ところに

~tokoro ni

just when, right as

When to use it

Use ~ところに when an event breaks in on a situation right at a critical moment — you were about to send the file, the meeting was just starting, the deal was nearly closed. It marks the incoming event as an intrusion or interruption, so the main clause almost always describes something that happens to the speaker (電話が入る、来客がある、指示が出る). In business writing it also survives in the fixed courtesy formula お忙しいところに恐れ入りますが.

Formation

  • Verb: dictionary form / ~ている / ~た + ところに — 出かける/出かけている/出かけたところに。The 〜た form is most common for "just as I had finished".
  • い-adjective: い + ところに — mostly fixed: お忙しいところに、ご多忙のところに。
  • な-adjective: ~な + ところに — 大変なところに (limited, set-phrase-like).
  • Noun: の + ところに — rare and largely idiomatic (いいところに、この忙しさのところに).
  • Variants: ~ところへ (identical, slightly more written); ~ところを + transitive verb when the subject is acted upon (お休みのところを失礼します).

Examples

  • Just as the meeting was starting, the department head called.

  • Right as I was about to send the documents, a revision request came in.

  • My apologies for contacting you when you're so busy.

  • Just as the negotiation was coming together, new conditions were raised.

  • Apparently a visitor arrived just while I was away from my desk.