direct quote from Genki 2, page 106
>Note that we use the past tense even when the two events are yet to take place; it is the order of the two that matters.
Then it proceeds to give the following example
>中国に行った時ウーロン茶を買います
>
>I will buy Oolong tea when I go to china
>
>中国に行った時ウーロン茶を買いました
>
>I bought Oolong tea when I went to china
​
the second makes sense, but that first sentence just isn’t making sense to me. And then i see no example of A & B being past tense but meaning future….
​
IDK who wrote this chapter, but i feel that all the concepts explained in chapter 16 have been written to be unnecessarily difficult to understand. Last year I was using JPZ, and 時 is introduced much earlier, and it was a pretty simple explanation. A 時 B. When A, B. I came across how genki tries to explain it and I feel like I’m being lied to.
I double checked in the Dictionary of Beginners Japanese Grammar, and it says 時 is WHEN or AT THE TIME WHEN. I get that, makes some weirder sentences not weird anymore, but none of the examples given are contradictory like what Genki 2 made it to be.
I feel like this isn’t hard to get down at all. Do tenses not have to agree in Japanese? Is saying “I will buy Oolong tea when I got to china” actually a correct sentence?
5 comments
Maybe a case of confusing translation here. You’re right with your last intuition.
>中国に行った時ウーロン茶を買います
This gives a more nuanced feeling of “Once I get to China, I will buy Oolong tea”.
>I will buy Oolong tea when I go to China
This is probably better translated as “中国に行く時ウーロン茶を買います”.
The tense before 時 determines the timing and the sequences of the action. Therefore the meaning of “中国に行く時ウーロン茶を買います” and “中国に行った時ウーロン茶を買います” is different.
The former means that “when I am going to China, I will buy Oolong Tea”. This means that when you are on your way to China, you will buy Oolong Tea. The action of buying the Tea takes place simultaneously with the action of going to China.
On the other hand, the latter means “when I went to China, I will buy Oolong Tea.” This means when you arrived in China, you will buy Oolong Tea. The action of buying the Tea takes place after the action of going to China.
(I think I am not really explaining this well because English is not my native language. However, I hope this still can help : ) )
>中国に行った時ウーロン茶を買います
I interpret statements like this as “At the time the act of going to China has been completed (and it hasn’t by the time I’m telling you this), I will buy oolong tea.”
[Someone also asked about this exact topic on Stack Exchange](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30877/the-use-of-present-and-past-tenses-in-%EF%BD%9E%E6%99%82-sentences), by the way.
The ending of the sentence would dictate the context. If it is in ます form then it has not happened yet, so it would be a hypothetical statement. ました is past tense so it has already happened.
中国に行った時ウーロン茶を**買います** since the action of buying the tea hasn’t happened, it basically translates to “**When I will have gone** to China, I will buy oolong tea”. 行く時 will always be more appropriate in this case, as if the action of going to China is a definite, translating to “When I go to China, I will buy oolong tea”.
中国に行った時ウーロン茶を**買いました** and since the action of buying the tea is past tense, this mean it has already happened. Translates to “When I went to China, I bought oolong tea”.
I think it’s because you can only perform the action of buying the tea once the action of traveling is complete. “Once I’ve gotten to China, I’ll buy some oolong tea.”