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かえるときでんわしてね vs かえったときでんわしてね

かえるときでんわしてね vs かえったときでんわしてね

とき is a conjunction meaning “when,” so

うちにかえるときでんわしてね

and

うちにかえったときでんわしてね

both means “when you  go home, please ring me.”

The grammar difference is

うちにかえるときでんわしてね has かえる (non-past plain verb) before  とき and 

うちにかえったときでんわしてね  has かえった (past plain verb) before  とき.

When a “non-past plain” verb is used before とき, that means the action of that verb has not been completed when the action of the verb after とき happens. In short,  うちにかえるときでんわしてね means “Please ring me when you are coming home” or “Please ring me when you are on the way home.” So it is likely someone at home is asking her to ring.

On the other hand, when a “past plain” verb is used before とき, the action of that verb has to be completed when the second action happens. So うちにかえったときでんわしてね means “When you are back home, please ring me” or “After you get home, please ring me.” So it is likely someone who is not home is asking her to ring.

Other examples

日本にほんくときいました。
I bought it when I was going to Japan.
日本にほんったときいました。
I bought it when I went to Japan. (Most likely “when I was still in Japan.”)

電車でんしゃからりるとき、花子はなこさんにいました。
When I was getting off the train, I saw Hanako (on the train).
電車でんしゃからりたとき、花子はなこさんにいました。
When I got off the train, I saw Hanako (in a station).

For more beginners’ study material, please visit JLPT N5 Grammar and JLPT N5 Kanji pages.

One thought on “かえるときでんわしてね vs かえったときでんわしてね

  1. Reply
    Differences among ~と, ~とき and ~たら | EasyJapaneseE
    1 July 2020 at 10:02 pm

    […] By the way, as shown above, the word とき can be used with both a past non-past verb (like the sentences b and e) and a past verb (like c and g) and there is a small but distinct difference between the two, so if you are interested in that, please read this post. […]

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