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Scripts and basic sentences

Writing Japanese

The basic sentence

Particles: wa, ga, o, ni, de

Particles

Verb and adjective forms

Verbs

Adjectives and adverbs

Using the te-form

Wanting and intending

Giving and receiving

Passive and causative

Joining clauses and conditions

Linking clauses

Conditions

Probability and hearsay

Politeness and set expressions

Politeness

Expressions (N3)

Expressions (N2)

Written Japanese

N3 · Expressions (N3)

たとたん(に): the moment that

something unexpected happens right after

たとたん says that the instant one thing happened, something else happened — usually by surprise.

At a glance

Remember: たとたん: it happened, and at that instant something else happened — never a plan.
Form: 立(た)ち上(あ)がったとたんthe moment I stood up
Signal words: 〜たとたん
〜たとたんに
急(きゅう)に
Trap: Wrong:家(いえ)に着(つ)いたとたん、電話(でんわ)してください。
Right:家(いえ)に着(つ)いたらすぐ、電話(でんわ)してください。

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The form

the moment I stood up	立(た)ち上(あ)がったとたん
the moment I opened it	開(あ)けたとたんに
the moment I got home	家(いえ)に着(つ)いたとたん
the moment he saw me	私(わたし)を見(み)たとたん
compare: plan	着(つ)いたらすぐ

The rules one by one

The form this topic is about

た-form + とたん: the second event followed at that instant.
外(そと)に出(で)たとたん、雨(あめ)が降(ふ)り出(だ)した。The moment I went outside, it started to rain.
The second half is something that happened, often a surprise, and is in the past.
電話(でんわ)を切(き)ったとたんに、またベルが鳴(な)った。The moment I hung up, the phone rang again.
For a planned "as soon as", use たらすぐ, not とたん.
駅(えき)に着(つ)いたらすぐ連絡(れんらく)します。I will get in touch as soon as I reach the station.

Example sentences

家(いえ)に着(つ)いたとたん、疲(つか)れが出(で)た。The moment I got home, the tiredness hit me.

彼(かれ)は私(わたし)の顔(かお)を見(み)たとたん、笑(わら)い出(だ)した。The moment he saw my face, he burst out laughing.

窓(まど)を開(あ)けたとたん、冷(つめ)たい風(かぜ)が入(はい)ってきた。The moment I opened the window, a cold wind blew in.

試験(しけん)が終(お)わったとたん、全部(ぜんぶ)忘(わす)れてしまった。The moment the exam was over, I forgot everything.

ベッドに入(はい)ったとたんに、眠(ねむ)ってしまった。I fell asleep the moment I got into bed.

有名(ゆうめい)になったとたん、友達(ともだち)が増(ふ)えた。The moment he became famous, he had a lot more friends.

7 more example sentences

店(みせ)に入(はい)ったとたん、いい匂(にお)いがした。The moment I walked into the shop, I smelled something good.

春(はる)になったとたん、花粉症(かふんしょう)が始(はじ)まった。The moment spring came, my hay fever started.

子(こ)どもは母親(ははおや)を見(み)たとたん、泣(な)き出(だ)した。The child burst into tears the moment it saw its mother.

新(あたら)しいパソコンは買(か)ったとたんに壊(こわ)れた。The new computer broke the moment I bought it.

名前(なまえ)を呼(よ)ばれたとたん、緊張(きんちょう)してしまった。The moment my name was called, I froze up.

信号(しんごう)が青(あお)になったとたん、車(くるま)が一斉(いっせい)に走(はし)り出(だ)した。The moment the light turned green, the cars all moved off at once.

座(すわ)ったとたん、電車(でんしゃ)が大(おお)きく揺(ゆ)れた。The moment I sat down, the train lurched.

The trap English speakers fall into

Watch out

English "as soon as" works for a request, and たとたん looks like its translation. But たとたん only reports two things that happened, the second one unplanned. A request, a plan or an intention needs たらすぐ.

Wrong:家(いえ)に着(つ)いたとたん、電話(でんわ)してください。

Right:家(いえ)に着(つ)いたらすぐ、電話(でんわ)してください。

The full explanation

Read it all · about 1 min

途端(とたん) means "the very moment", and after the た-form of a verb たとたん(に) says that a second event followed immediately: 立(た)ち上(あ)がったとたん、頭(あたま)が痛(いた)くなった, "the moment I stood up, I got a headache". に after it is optional.

The second half is something that happened, not something the speaker did on purpose, and very often it is a surprise: ドアを開(あ)けたとたん、猫(ねこ)が飛(と)び出(だ)してきた. That is why the main clause is in the past and is never a wish, a request or an intention.

English "as soon as" covers both a surprising coincidence and a plan: "as soon as I get home, I will call you". The plan is not たとたん. For a deliberate "as soon as" Japanese uses たらすぐ — 家(いえ)に着(つ)いたらすぐ電話(でんわ)します — or, more formally, しだい.

Because the pattern reports two events in the past, the speaker is usually describing their own surprise or that of somebody they watched. It belongs to storytelling: 名前(なまえ)を呼(よ)ばれたとたん、緊張(きんちょう)してしまった.

A closer look

Three ways to say "as soon as"

たとたん reports a surprise in the past: the second event was not chosen. たらすぐ is the everyday "as soon as" for plans, requests and habits, in any tense.

しだい, after the ます-stem, is the formal version of たらすぐ: 分(わ)かりしだい、ご連絡(れんらく)します, "we will inform you as soon as we know". It belongs to business and to announcements, and like たらすぐ it looks forward rather than back.

Worth knowing (1)

Not about yourself acting on purpose

The second half cannot be the speaker's own deliberate action. 家(いえ)に着(つ)いたとたん、シャワーを浴(あ)びた sounds odd; 着(つ)いてすぐ or 着(つ)くとすぐ would be used. An involuntary reaction — falling asleep, laughing, feeling tired — is fine.

家(いえ)に着(つ)くとすぐ、シャワーを浴(あ)びた。As soon as I got home, I had a shower.

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