You might have heard of “ところ” or ”とこ”. Do you know what exactly they mean? How to use them?
They are nouns that originally mean ”place”, but they have three other meanings.
The first is ”to be about to do something”. The second is ”in the middle of doing something”. The third is ”just did something”. They are used to describe your latest action.
”とこ” is more casual and it is used in everyday conversation.
Meg is calling Amy to hang out with her.
- Meg: What are you doing now?
今、何(を)しているの？ - Amy: I was just about to text you.
ちょうど、メグにメッセージを送ろうと思っていたとこ。 - Meg: Nice. Do you want to grab coffee this afternoon? I just got back from the gym and I’m free after taking a shower.
よかった。お茶しない？今ジムから戻ったとこだから、シャワー浴びたら(時間が)空いているよ。 - Amy: Then, let’s get together at 3!
じゃ、3時に会おう！ - Meg: All right.I’ll find a cafe or something near the station to hang out.
はーい。駅の近くのカフェかなんか、探してみるね。
Ken and Leo are talking about the progress of their tasks.
- Ken: I’ve just finished the weekly report. How about you?
僕は、今、週次報告書が終わったとこだけど、ケンは？ - Leo: Tom sent me the minutes of the meeting we attended. I’m checking it now.
トムから議事録が送られてきたから、見ているとこ。 - Ken: Oh, Speak of the devil. Tom is right over there.
あっ、噂をすれば... トムがあそこにいるよ。 - Leo: Good timing. There are a few things that are slightly different from my understanding about what we discussed. I was just thinking I wanted to make sure whether we are on the same page, or not.
ちょうど、よかった。会議で話した内容について、ちょっと認識齟齬がある気がする。だから、彼に確認したかったとこなんだよね。