たとたんに (JLPT N3)

About たとたんに

たとたんに, frequently seen using its kanji form た途端(とたん)に is a structure used to convey that something happens 'the instant', or 'the moment' that something else occurs. It is a combination of the auxiliary verb た (indicating the completion of a verb), and the noun 途端(とたん) 'on the tip of' used adverbially (with に).

(A) た途端(とたん)に (B) is used to express (B) things that are beyond the control of the speaker, and may be considered strange, or unexpected.

As 途端(とたん) literally means 'on the tip of', any (B) action is considered to happen either directly upon (A), or even simultaneously with (A).

Synonyms

Examples

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出(で)た途端(とたん)に、雨(あめ)が降(ふ)り始(はじ)めた。

The instant I went outside, it began to rain.

帰(かえ)ろうとした途端(とたん)、仕事(しごと)を頼(たの)まれた。

Just as I was about to leave, I was given more work to do.

青(あお)になった途端(とたん)に飛(と)び出(だ)すのは危(あぶ)ないよ。

It's dangerous to speed off the instant (a traffic light) turns (became) green.

家(いえ)に入(はい)った途端(とたん)呼(よ)び鈴(りん)が鳴(な)った。

Just as I got into the house, the doorbell rang.

彼女(かのじょ)を見(み)た途端(とたん)に恋(こい)をしてしまった。

I fell in love the instant I saw her.

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たとたんに – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (5 in total)

mrnoone
@Juppy
Hey and sorry for the late answer

@eccol
Hey and welcome on the community forums!

To be honest, this is a matter of convention. Some Japanese feel that adding に if there is a comma already is not necessary. Not an error though.

I think that we will change those hints, and simply accept answers with に.
eccol
Thanks for the reply!
The sentence I was being marked wrong on was 座ったとたん用事を思い出した。which I now notice doesn’t even have a comma. Is that correct?
mrnoone
Yes, 座ったとたんに用事を思い出した。is correct , and should be accepted, since it is added to the answer list

It might have been some kind of one-time bug, I will tell the technical part of the team to check it

Sorry fot the inconvenience!
Cheers!