Learn Hardcore Japanese: asa no uti ni haburasi to taoru wo zyunbisite oku to, isogasii zikan ni awatemasen. - If I prepare my toothbrush and towel while it’s still morning, I don’t rush during the busy time.

朝のうちに literally means “within the morning / while it is still morning”. It implies the earlier or freer part of the morning, before things get busy or before some change happens.

朝に = simply “in the morning / at morning (time)”. It’s neutral about when in the morning.
朝のうちに = “by (the early part of) the morning / while it’s still morning,” with a nuance of “before it gets late / before you get busy.”

So the sentence suggests:
“If you get your toothbrush and towel ready while it’s still morning (while you have time), you won’t be flustered when it gets busy.”
Using 朝に would lose that “before it’s too late / while there’s still time” nuance.

Why is there a の between 朝 and うち in 朝のうちに? What is うち here?

Here うち is a noun that means “within / the time while ~ / the period when ~”.

You can think of A のうち as:

A のうち = “within the time of A / while it is A”

So:

朝のうち = “within the (time called) morning” → “while it’s still morning”

The の works just like in 日本の文化 (Japan’s culture) or 今日の天気 (today’s weather). It links 朝 (morning) to うち (the “within/time” noun).

Other common patterns with うち:

若い（うち）に – while you’re still young
学生のうちに – while you are a student
雨が降らないうちに – before it starts raining / while it’s not raining yet

So 朝のうちに follows the same pattern.

What is the function of 準備しておく instead of just 準備する?

〜ておく is a very important pattern. It means:

“to do (something) in advance / beforehand and leave it in that state.”

So:

準備する = “to prepare”
準備しておく = “to prepare (something) ahead of time, so that it’s ready when you need it”

The nuance is:

You are not just preparing; you are preparing now for a future situation.
And you leave the result as it is until that time (for example, toothbrush and towel already placed where they should be).

That fits perfectly with the idea of avoiding panic later: you prepare in advance in the morning so that later, in the busy time, everything is already ready.

What does 〜と do here after 準備しておく? Why not 〜たら or 〜なら?

The と after 準備しておく is the “conditional と”. In this use, Vると … (plain verb + と) often has the nuance:

“If / whenever you do X, then (as a natural result) Y happens.”
It can express general truths, habits, or predictable outcomes.

In this sentence:

朝のうちに歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておくと、忙しい時間にあわてません。
→ “If you prepare your toothbrush and towel in the morning, you don’t get flustered when it’s busy.”

This sounds like a general rule / advice, not a one-time event.

Compare:

準備しておくと、あわてません。
→ General statement of what usually happens.
準備しておいたら、あわてません。
→ Feels a bit more like “If (in that particular case) you have prepared, then you won’t panic.” Less “rule-like,” more situational.
準備しておくなら、あわてません。
→ Often used when setting a condition, like “If you are going to prepare (as you say), then you won’t panic.” The nuance is more about assumption / condition.

Here, と is natural because the sentence is giving general advice with a predictable result.

Who is the subject of あわてません? Is it “I” or “you”? Why is there no pronoun?

In Japanese, the subject (I/you/we/people) is often omitted when it’s clear from context or when the statement is general.

In this sentence, あわてません could be understood as:

“I don’t get flustered,”
“You don’t get flustered,” or
“One does not get flustered / people don’t get flustered.”

Because this is a general piece of advice, the most natural interpretation is:

“(You / people in general) won’t be flustered during busy times.”

Japanese often leaves this generic “you/people” subject unsaid. English usually chooses “you” for this kind of advice, so a natural English-style reading is:

“If you prepare your toothbrush and towel in the morning, you won’t be flustered when it’s busy.”

What does あわてません mean exactly? Is it “not be in a hurry,” “not panic,” or something else?

The verb あわてる means:

to panic,
to get flustered,
to become confused and rush around,
to be in a hurry in an unsettled, disorganized way.

So あわてません = “(I/you) don’t panic / don’t get flustered.”

It’s not just “to hurry” (急ぐ) and not exactly “to be troubled” (困る). It specifically describes that mental state of “Oh no! I’m running late! Where’s my towel?! Ahhh!”

So the sentence is saying:

If you prepare in advance, you won’t be in that panicky, flustered state during busy time.

Why is に used in 朝のうちに and also in 忙しい時間に? Are both the same kind of に?

Both 〜に here mark a kind of time.

朝のうちに
- に here is a time marker meaning “by / during”.
- 朝のうちに = “during the (early) morning / by the (end of) morning.”
忙しい時間に
- に again marks time, but here it’s closer to “at (that time)”.
- 忙しい時間に = “at the busy time / during the time when you’re busy.”

So both are time-related に, but:

朝のうちに emphasizes a time window and doing it within that window.
忙しい時間に is more like the point/period of time when you are busy, the situation in which you won’t be flustered.

Why does the sentence use 忙しい時間に instead of 忙しい時に? Is there a difference?

Both are possible, but they feel slightly different:

忙しい時に
- Literally “when (you are) busy.”
- Focuses more on the state or moment: “at the time when you are busy.”
忙しい時間に
- Literally “in the busy time / during the busy period.”
- Feels more like a block/period of time that is busy (for example, your morning rush hour, before leaving the house).

In this sentence, 忙しい時間に fits well because it’s talking about a busy period of the day (maybe just before going out, or when you normally get ready). 忙しい時に would also be grammatically fine and natural, but 時間 suggests that “busy time period” image a bit more clearly.

Why is と used between 歯ブラシ and タオル? Could we use や instead?

The particle と between nouns usually means “and”, listing all items:

歯ブラシとタオル = “toothbrush and towel” (both of them)

The particle や means “and / and so on”, listing examples, not necessarily everything:

歯ブラシやタオル = “a toothbrush, a towel, and things like that”

In this sentence:

歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておく
→ suggests you specifically prepare both items.

If you said:

歯ブラシやタオルを準備しておくと…
→ it would sound like “If you prepare things like your toothbrush, towel, etc., in advance…” — still okay, but more like examples rather than a complete list.

So と is used because the speaker likely has these two specific items in mind as a complete set for the situation.

What level of politeness is あわてません here? How would this change in casual speech?

あわてません is in polite present negative form:

Dictionary form: あわてる (to panic / be flustered)
Polite negative: あわてません (do not panic / won’t panic)

So the whole sentence is in polite style (です・ます style), suitable for:

speaking to someone you don’t know well,
explanations, textbooks, polite advice, etc.

In casual/informal speech, you would normally say:

朝のうちに歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておくと、忙しい時間にあわてない。

The main change is あわてません → あわてない. Everything else can stay the same in casual style.

Can the word order of this sentence be changed? For example, can 朝のうちに or 忙しい時間に move to other positions?

Yes, Japanese word order is relatively flexible, especially for time expressions like 朝のうちに and 忙しい時間に. The core constraint is that the verb usually comes at the end of each clause.

Original:

朝のうちに歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておくと、忙しい時間にあわてません。

Some natural variations:

歯ブラシとタオルを朝のうちに準備しておくと、忙しい時間にあわてません。
(Moves 朝のうちに after the objects.)
朝のうちに歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておくと、あわてません、忙しい時間に。
(Putting 忙しい時間に at the end is possible in speech, though the original is smoother in writing.)

You cannot move the main verb away from the end of its clause. For example, this would be incorrect:

✕ 朝のうちに歯ブラシとタオルを準備しておく、忙しい時間にあわてませんと。

So, time phrases like 朝のうちに and 忙しい時間に can move around somewhat, but the verb endings (準備しておく, あわてません) should stay at the end of their clauses.