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In the following sentence

ダーズリー一家【いっか】が目【め】を覚【さ】ますと、外【そと】はどんよりとした灰色【はいいろ】の空【そら】だった。

「と」is used in a place where I'd rather use 「とき」 or 「たら」. I know that 「と」is used for inevitable conditions like facts of nature but it doesn't fit that sentence.

  1. Does particle 「と」has another meaning similar to 「とき」in the context of the above sentence? If so, is there a difference between the two?

  2. Similarly「と」and 「たら」(I think the difference here would be 「と」being more formal than 「たら」).

Pawel Batko
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    Please see https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/393/differences-among-%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%AA%E3%82%89-%E3%82%93%E3%81%A0%E3%81%A3%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-%E3%81%88%E3%81%B0-etc ... – virmaior Jan 23 '18 at 23:23
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    It might also help to see how you believe the sentence should be translated (because on my reading と makes perfect sense here where as たら does not). – virmaior Jan 23 '18 at 23:30
  • You can also refer to [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/33481/use-of-%E3%81%A8-in-these-two-sentences-%E3%81%AE%E3%81%BC%E3%82%8B-or-%E3%81%82%E3%81%8C%E3%82%8B), [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/24523/using-%E3%81%A8-to-link-clauses-instead-of-%E3%81%A6), and [this](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/15620/what-is-the-difference-between-%E3%81%A8-%E3%81%9F%E3%82%89-and-%E6%99%82-%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8D). – BJCUAI Jan 23 '18 at 23:33
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    See also: https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/32435/9831 – Chocolate Jan 24 '18 at 04:52

1 Answers1

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It's very subtle.「とき」puts more emphasis on time so usually reserved for more memorable occasions which often happened further back in time--like "the time when Sarah turned 30" would be a time to bust out「とき」.

  • 「と」= "When the Dursleys woke up, the sky was..."
  • 「とき」= "That time when the Dursleys woke up, the sky was..."

Cheers!

Tamiko Terada
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