たところ — Just finished (this very moment)
Expresses that an action has just reached completion at the exact moment of speaking — like a snapshot of the finish line. It must be objectively, literally just now.
Structure
[Verb た-form] + ところ
Examples
今、家に着いたところです。
Ima, ie ni tsuita tokoro desu.
I've literally just arrived home.
zero-delay, right now
ちょうど食べ終わったところだ。
Choudo tabeowatta tokoro da.
I've just this second finished eating.
pairs naturally with ちょうど (exactly/just)
連絡しようとしたところに、電話が来た。
Renraku shiyou to shita tokoro ni, denwa ga kita.
A call came right as I was about to contact them.
〜ところに = at that precise point in time
• The ところ spectrum: するところ (about to do) → ているところ (in the middle of doing) → たところ (just finished). • No psychology: unlike たばかり, たところ can't be used for things that happened a while ago even if they feel new — it must be objectively immediate.
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones たところ is tested against.
vs たばかり
たばかり is subjective recency (can be days/months ago if it still feels new). たところ is objective: the action finished at this literal moment.
vs ているところ
ているところ = in the middle of the action right now. たところ = the action has just been completed right now.
More time expressions
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