Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| … ところ | …tokoro |
| まさに…しようとしている | masa ni … shiyō to shite iru |
Both forms are used to indicate imminence. In everyday conversations, you might also use the informal phrase もうすぐ to indicate that something is going to happen soon.
What does it mean word for word?
The word ところ literally means "place", but in this grammatical context, it refers to a specific point or moment in a sequence of events.
Which one should you use?
While … ところ focuses on the specific moment in time, まさに…しようとしている emphasizes the active intention or the very immediate process of an action starting. The word まさに is often added to the longer construction to add emphasis, similar to saying "just about to" or "on the verge of" in English.
How does it change in a sentence?
The phrase … ところ is typically used with the dictionary form of a verb to indicate that an action is just about to begin. You can change the ending to the past tense … ところだった to express that something was just about to happen but was interrupted or prevented.
How do you pronounce it?
…tokoro
Did you know?
- If you use the past tense … ところだった, you are not just describing the past, but often implying that a disaster was narrowly avoided.
- While …ところ describes the moment, the word まさに used in the formal version is a cognate of the word for 'correct' or 'true', adding a sense of absolute precision to the timing.
- Japanese has different markers for 'about to' depending on whether the event is a natural occurrence or a human intention, whereas English uses 'about to' for both.
Examples in context
- 彼はまさに出発しようとしている。He is just about to leave.
- 雨が今にも降り出しそうだ。It looks like it's about to start raining any moment now.
- もうすぐバスが来るよ。The bus is about to arrive soon.
- もうじき終わるよ。It's about to end soon.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “about to” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
