Not sure if it's a Quote particle to or toki

B

Beetle

先輩

23 Jan 2013

29

0

• 7 Oct 2013

• #1

I have a sentence which is:

"ureshii naa"
moosan ga me wo hokoroba seta toki deshita

So moosan is saying he is happy.

I'm a bit confused about the next part.

Me wo hokoroba seta toki deshita. Does it mean if he opens his eyes? Or when he opened his yes?

I have not seen seta toki deshita
Thanks

 

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Moderator

Fifteen-year veteran

22 Feb 2008

18,266

4,926

• 7 Oct 2013

• #2

とき means "when" here.

It's not ほころば / せた / とき, but ほころばせた / とき. ほころばせた is the past causative of ほころぶ.
目をほころばせる means "to smile in one's eyes", not "to open one's eyes".

 

B

Beetle

先輩

23 Jan 2013

29

0

• 8 Oct 2013

• Thread starter
• #3

Thanks toritoribe. That is such a cool verb. I found the verb hokorobu. To mean tear apart, etc open up at the seams...it's a really good verb to remember. Plus with the TA+toki it is in the past time tense. Thanks a lot.