Sign inSign up

huutou ni zyuusyo wo kaitara, yuubinkyoku de kitte wo kau.

封筒ふうとう　に　住所じゅうしょ　を　書かいたら、　郵便局ゆうびんきょく　で　切手きって　を　買かう。huutou ni zyuusyo wo kaitara, yuubinkyoku de kitte wo kau.
After writing the address on the envelope, I buy stamps at the post office.
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have hundreds of Japanese lessons and thousands of exercises.
Start learning Japanese

Start learning Japanese now

Questions & Answers about huutou ni zyuusyo wo kaitara, yuubinkyoku de kitte wo kau.

What role does the particle に play in 封筒に?
In 封筒に, に marks the target or location of the action. It tells you where you are writing. So 封筒に住所を書く literally means “to write the address on (the surface of) the envelope.”
Why is 住所 marked with the object particle を?

住所を indicates that 住所 (“address”) is the direct object of 書く (“to write”). In Japanese, you mark what you write with を:
• 文字を書く (“to write characters”)
• 名前を書く (“to write a name”)
• 住所を書く (“to write an address”)

What does the ～たら form in 書いたら express here?

The ～たら conditional (書いたら) can mean “if” or “when/after.” In this sentence it expresses a sequence of actions:

  1. 封筒に住所を書いたら – when/after you’ve written the address on the envelope
  2. 郵便局で切手を買う – you go buy stamps at the post office

It isn’t hypothetical—rather, it’s saying “once X is done, do Y.”

Why is the location particle で used in 郵便局で?
で marks the place where an action occurs. Here, 郵便局で tells us where you buy the stamps: at the post office. If you omitted で, it’d sound like you’re just listing “post office” without specifying the action location.
I notice there’s no を before 切手 in 切手を買う; why is it omitted here?

Actually, the complete form is 切手を買う with を marking “stamps” as the direct object of 買う. In casual or note‐style Japanese, writers sometimes drop を when the meaning is obvious. You can safely include it:
• 郵便局で切手を買う
• 郵便局で切手を買う

Both are understood the same, but the version without を is more colloquial/concise.

Why is the second clause in non‐past form (買う) even though the first clause uses past tense (書いたら)?

In ～たら sentences, the protasis (前件) uses past (書いたら), but the apodosis (後件) can be either past or non-past, depending on context:
• Non‐past (買う) → a general statement or future sequence (“then you buy stamps”).
• Past (買った) → reporting what happened (“then you bought stamps”).

Here, 買う is simply stating the next action in sequence or a habitual instruction.

Could you use ～たあとで instead of ～たら to show the same meaning?

Yes, you can say 封筒に住所を書いたあとで、郵便局で切手を買う. The nuance:
• ～たら → “as soon as/when” or “once” (often more casual and flexible).
• ～たあとで → strictly “after (finishing) X.”

In everyday speech, ～たら is very common for sequential steps, but ～たあとで can sound slightly more formal or explicit about the timing.