290 CHAPTER 6. LANGUAGE PATTERNS
6.2.6 Describing an occurrence using
If you want to describe something that occurs or can occur at times, then
lets you say something general about these occurrences. This is in part
obvious because of the kanji for , , which is typically pronounced ,
means ”... time”, such as , ”one time” or , ”three times”.
”Whenever (I) look up at a starry sky, (I) remember that (special)
night.”Here, the clause , ”looking up at a starry sky” is pre-
sented as something that occurs with some frequency, and a comment on
what is associated to this occurrence is then given. nominalises sen-
tences in.
6.2.7 Indicating a specific time or event using
on its own means ”time”, which explains why it does what it does. This
nominaliser can be used either by itself or followed by or.
”When (I) first came to Japan, (I) was only 18.”Here the clause , ”came to Japan” is modified with
, ”for the first time”, and turned into a specific time/event using ,
after which a comment about this specific time/event is made. nomi-
nalises sentences in
.
Be careful when using with present tense , because this
will be interpreted as a general ”every time ...” statement.
”Every time I come to Japan, I get excited.”The reason for this is that needs to refer to some event, but there
cannot be a specific event when using present tense, as this describes either
the now (in which case you will not refer back to it), or the immediate
future (in which case, the event wouldn’t have even occurred yet). The
only event, then, that can refer to is the general event of whatever you’re
describing. In the case of , this means the general event ”coming
to Japan”, rather than some specific instance of coming to Japan.