"As Soon As" in Japanese

The easiest way to say “as soon as A, B” with the grammar already introduced is to simply use the word ‘immediately’ (すぐに) with the conditional

〜したらすぐに…

When I do 〜 I immediately…

ご飯はんを食たべ終おわったらすぐに部屋へやに戻もどってテレビを見みる。

As soon as he’s finished eating he goes back to his room and watches television.

Here we introduce some more grammatically complicated ways of forming this expression.

～が早はやいか～

が早はやいか can be used with both the present and past tense but usage with the present tense (as in the sentence above) is more common. The phrase is literary suggesting that you don’t know which action took place first they happened so quickly.

ご飯はんを食たべ終おわるが早はやいか部屋へやに戻もどってテレビを見みる。

As soon as he’s finished eating he goes back to his room and watches television.

ベルが鳴なるが早はやいか学生がくせいは教科書きょうかしょを鞄かばんに押おし込こんで教室きょうしつから飛とび出だしてきた。

As soon as the bell rang the students shoved their textbooks into their bags and flew out of the classroom.

旅行りょこうから帰かえってくるが早はやいかインターネットで観光地かんこうちを調しらべ始はじめる。

As soon as she gets back from holiday she’s on the internet searching for tourist destinations.

その歌手かしゅは大人気だいにんきだよ。コンサートチケットは販売はんばいされるが早はやいか売うり切きれとなる。

That singer is very popular. Her concert tickets are sold out the moment they go on sale.

Generally speaking, が早はやい is probably used more often in writing but can occasionally be heard in conversation, as well.

～途端とたんに

～した途端とたんに means the moment A happened, B also happened. It is more colloquial than が早はやいか and has the same meaning as ～した瞬間しゅんかんに (literally “at the moment”…). Grammatically, 途端とたんに requires the past tense.

横よこになった途端とたんに爆睡ばくすいした。

The moment I lay down I fell into a deep sleep.

泥棒どろぼうが警察官けいさつかんを見みた途端とたんに逃にげ始はじめた。

The moment the robber saw the police officer he started to run away.

～や否いなや～

～や否いなや～ is identical to が早はやいか but is only used in writing.

横よこになるや否いなや爆睡ばくすいした。

As soon as I lay down I fell asleep.

そばから

そばから has a slightly different nuance to the expressions above. This phrase is used to suggest a repeatable pattern: “whenever A happens, B happens”.

新あたらしい漢字かんじを覚おぼえるそばから忘わすれてしまうので、どうしたらいいの？

As soon as I learn a new kanji character I forget it. What should I do?

うちの子供こどもは食たべるそばからお腹なかがすいていると泣ないちゃうよ。お相撲すもうさんになるだろうね。

As soon as my child has eaten he starts crying that he’s hungry. I reckon he’s going to become a sumo wrestler.

バイトで稼かせいだお金かねが銀行口座ぎんこうこうざに振ふり込こまれるそばから使つかっちゃう。

The moment the money from my part-time job hits my account I spend it. I cannot save at all.