Quote:
Originally Posted by KyleGoetz
とき doesn't "require" present. You can use past. It's just the meaning changes:
東京にいるとき、... while in Tokyo [the time I was in the state of being in Tokyo]
東京にいたとき... after having been in Tokyo [the time I was in the state of having been but no longer being in Tokyo]
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I know. I learnt present with とき so I don't fall into the mistake of doing literal translation like I have done with あと. Once I remember that when I use とき with present it assume a past meaning (or better same tense of main clause) it is easy to talk about an action happened before the main clause. In Italian and English we use tenses in these 2 cases that are pretty much different from Japanese so I need a reminder.
I went through the same process when I was studying English and the terrible 3 "if" clauses. In order to remember them I learnt if+present followed by will. That doesn't mean you can't have present perfect...too difficult to explain
Thank you anyway for correcting me