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Sentence help and another question about に.

nalo6451

Kouhai
19 Feb 2017
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Hi all.

I've come across the sentence "こどものとき、どこであそびましたか", which I believe roughly translates to: When you were a child, where did you play?

My first question would be is this translation correct? Secondly, my understanding of the use of 'に' is that it can only be used to refer to a time period when that period is specific/recurring, thus using に after こどものとき to join the two parts of the sentences together would be incorrect. If so, would there be another way one would phrase the above sentence, or is the above form that which would be typically expressed in normal conversation?

Thanks :>
 
Anyone who wants to help, I've got an additional question regarding に.

In the sentence "みちこさんはまどのちかくにすわっています": "Michiko is seated near the window", why is に used instead of を?
 
1)
Yes.

2)
Generally, に is attached to absolute temporal words, and isn't attached to comparative/relative time.
e.g.
12時にご飯を食べる
2月にアメリカに行く
夏頃(に)完成する
先月アメリカに行った
明日荷物が届く

ときに is more complicated since とき is for a temporal clause. Roughly, AときにB shows that B happened/occurred at the time/during A. B usually can't express a state. こどものとき and こどものときに are both correct in your example.
See the following thread for detail about とき.
Use of 時 after verb | Japan Forum
時 in the following sentence | Japan Forum

Anyone who wants to help, I've got an additional question regarding に.

In the sentence "みちこさんはまどのちかくにすわっています": "Michiko is seated near the window", why is に used instead of を?
に indicates the direction/destination of the movement/action.
 
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