Breakdown of kaze ga tuyoi toki, doa wo tuyoku simemasu.
をwo
direct object particle
がga
subject particle
ときtoki
when
風kaze
wind
強いtuyoi
strong
ドアdoa
door
閉めるsimeru
to close
強くtuyoku
strongly
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Questions & Answers about kaze ga tuyoi toki, doa wo tuyoku simemasu.
What does とき mean in 風が強いとき?
In this context, とき means “when” or “at the time of.” By attaching to the adjective phrase 風が強い, it creates a temporal clause: “when the wind is strong.”
Why is 風が強い in the plain form before とき, instead of the polite 風が強いですとき?
When you use とき to mark “when … happens,” you attach it to the plain (dictionary or い‐adjective) form. You cannot use the polite copula です before とき. So you say 風が強いとき, not 風が強いですとき.
Why is the particle が used after 風, and could we use は instead?
The が marks 風 as the subject of 強い (the wind is strong). You could use は—風は強いとき—but that shifts “wind” to a general topic, implying “as for wind, when it’s strong…,” which can slightly change the nuance. が simply states the condition “when the wind is strong.”
Why is 強く used before 閉めます, rather than 強い?
強く is the adverbial form of the い-adjective 強い. Adverbs modify verbs, so to say “shut strongly,” you need 強く閉めます. 強い閉めます would be ungrammatical because 強い can’t directly modify a verb.
What role does the particle を play in ドアを強く閉めます?
The particle を marks ドア as the direct object of the transitive verb 閉めます (“to close”). It tells us what is being closed.
Why is the verb 閉めます in the polite present tense here?
Even though the sentence describes a habitual or general action (“when the wind is strong, I (habitually) close the door firmly”), Japanese uses the non-past verb form for both present and habitual actions. The polite 閉めます keeps the tone formal.
Could we express the same idea using the て-form, for example 風が強くて、ドアを強く閉めます?
Yes. 風が強くて、ドアを強く閉めます (“Because the wind is strong, I close the door firmly”) is natural and focuses on cause-and-effect. In contrast, とき emphasizes “when/whenever,” highlighting the time frame or repeated condition rather than just the reason.