ところに details
write + right when — at that exact moment something else cuts in from outside
kaku tokoro ni
right when — at that exact moment something else cuts in from outside
meaning: right when writing
ちょうど出かけるところに、母に呼び止められた。
choudo dekakeru tokoro ni, haha ni yobitomerareta.
I got stopped by my mother right when heading out. neutral
宿題やってるところに友だちが来ちゃってさ。
shukudai yatteru tokoro ni tomodachi ga kichatte sa.
My friend turned up right while I was doing my homework. casual
Examples
right when — the moment of doing X (about to, mid-, or just finished), something arrives and cuts in
ちょうど出かけるところに、母に呼び止められた。
choudo dekakerutokoroni, haha ni yobitomerareta.
I got stopped by my mother right when heading out. neutral
宿題やってるところに友だちが来ちゃってさ。
shukudai yatteru tokoro ni tomodachi ga kichatte sa.
My friend turned up right while I was doing my homework. casual
家に着いたところに、ちょうど宅配便が来た。
ie ni tsuita tokoro ni, choudo takuhaibin ga kita.
The delivery arrived just as I got home. neutral
お食事をなさっているところに失礼いたします。
o shokuji o nasatte iru tokoro ni shitsurei itashimasu.
Forgive me for intruding while you are eating. formal
Formation
{V}ところにattaches to dictionary form{V-te}いるところにattaches to て-form{V-ta}ところにattaches to た-form
Notes
is somebody arriving. Either way it must come from outside the subject's
control — a next step they chose themselves takes たあとで.
Related patterns
Similar
あいだに puts the main event at any point inside a stretch and is indifferent to what it is (バスを待っているあいだに考えた); ところに pins it to the single instant of the first event AND requires it to arrive from outside and disrupt — ×待っているところに考えた fails for want of an intruder.
Lookalikes
ところだ is a sentence-final PREDICATE reporting where an action stands relative to now (今出かけるところだ, and there the sentence ends); ところに/ところへ can never end a sentence — it is a subordinate frame that demands a following clause naming what cut in (出かけるところに電話が鳴った).
ところだった is the sentence's own predicate and its whole point is that the event stopped short (遅刻するところだった — nobody was late); ところに is only a time frame for whatever cuts in and makes no claim either way about the framed event — 出かけるところに客が来た leaves it open whether the speaker ever got out the door.