was just about to do something
was just ~ing
in the middle of ~ing
Structure
- Verb + ところだった
- Verb[ ていた ] + ところだった
[Often used with 危うく to indicate some threat was “narrowly” avoided]
I’m quite confused with the phrase: “やっと馴れてきたところだったのに、仕事を辞めなければいけなくなった.”
Having done “Verb［た］ + ところ + だ”, meaning “just finished doing”, shouldn’t “馴れてきたところだった” mean “had just gotten used to” ? Or is it an exception being that it’s a past progressive given the “てくる” (basically putting more emphasis on the fact that it’s progressive first, and only then that it’s in the past)?
1 Like
I suppose I could see this being translated either way. Either, “despite finally (having been in the process of) getting used to it,” or, “despite having finally gotten used to it.” In fact, I think the first translation has the same flavor of being somewhat ambiguious. You could take it to mean I was used to it but still growing more so, or that I was fully and thoroughly accustomed to it, I think.
The 馴れる spelling in reference to 仕事 here made me 
1 Like