connective N3 common casualpolitewritten
〜たらすぐ(に) — as soon as ~
〜たらすぐ ・ たらすぐ
Builds on たら
Meaning
- as soon as ~ / right after ~ — do the second action immediately once the first is done
たらすぐ is the たら conditional plus すぐ ('immediately'): 'once X happens, do Y right away'. Because the base is たら, the second clause is free — it can be a plan, request, or command (着いたらすぐ連絡して, 'contact me as soon as you arrive'). That flexibility is the contrast with たとたん, which only reports a past, often surprising, fact.
Key sentence
家に帰ったらすぐ、手を洗いなさい。
Wash your hands as soon as you get home.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb た-form + ら + すぐ(に) | Vたら + すぐ(に) | 終わったらすぐ / 着いたらすぐに |
Examples
起きたらすぐ、水を一杯飲む。
As soon as I wake up, I drink a glass of water.
準備ができたらすぐに出発しよう。
Let's leave as soon as we're ready.
メールを読んだらすぐ返事をください。
Please reply as soon as you read the email.
Easily confused with
〜たとたん たとたん reports a past, often unexpected result and bars commands/plans; たらすぐ is forward-looking and freely takes requests or intentions ('do Y as soon as X'). とすぐに Same 'as soon as', different base: たらすぐ (たら) suits one-off, planned sequences and commands; とすぐに (と) leans toward automatic or habitual results and resists commands in the second clause.
Notes
- すぐに (with に) is a slightly more emphatic/formal variant of すぐ here — see たらすぐに. The に is optional and changes nothing essential.
See 〜たらすぐ in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜たらすぐ the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in Jengo