about to
on the verge of
Structure
- Verb + ところ
One of the example sentences starts with 「 友達が話し手を待っている時、電話」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.
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.
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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。
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。
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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 
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?
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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.
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