たて
- 1Freshly made, harvested, or done, emphasizing the freshness of the thing itself.Ex. 1
- 2Having only just come into a new state, such as being newly born or having just learned something.
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Neutral in register. Common in food, shopping, and advertising contexts, such as fresh bread, just-picked vegetables, and 'wet paint' (ペンキ塗りたて) signs. Unlike たばかり, which works with almost any verb to say an action has just finished, たて is used with a limited set of verbs and highlights the fresh condition of the result.
Do not attach たて to the た-form; say 焼きたて, not 焼いたて.
Learners should not assume たて works with every verb; it combines naturally with only a limited set, unlike たばかり.
Note that たて usually links to a following noun with の, as in 焼きたてのパン.
- たばかりN4「たばかり」 attaches to the た-form of almost any verb and reports that an action was just completed or that a state began not long ago, while 「たて」 attaches to the ます-stem, works with only a limited set of verbs, and emphasizes freshness. 「焼きたての」 can be rephrased as 「焼いたばかりの」, but the reverse usually doesn't work.
- たところN4「たところ」 attaches to the た-form, works with most verbs, and marks the point in time just after an action is done, while 「たて」 attaches to the ます-stem, is limited to a few verbs, and describes the fresh state of a thing or person. 「たところ、…」 also has a separate use, expressing what one found as a result of doing something.
- 〜たところだN3「〜たところだ」 attaches to the た-form and marks the moment an action has just been completed, but it doesn't modify nouns. 「たて」 attaches to the ます-stem, describes the fresh state of something just made or someone just entering a state, and can modify nouns as 「〜たての」 + noun, so the two are generally not interchangeable.
- ているところN4「ているところ」 attaches to the て-form and indicates an action in progress and not yet finished at a given moment, while 「たて」 attaches to the ます-stem and expresses the fresh state right after something is made or someone enters a state. The two cannot be swapped.
たばかり and 〜たところだ say that an action has just happened and work with most verbs. たところ used as a connector (調べたところ、…) means 'when/upon doing' and introduces the outcome, and ているところ describes an action in progress. たて instead attaches to the verb stem of a limited set of verbs and describes the fresh state of a thing or person right after the action.
