～なり
as soon as
～なり is a pattern made by attaching なり to the dictionary form of a verb. It means that immediately upon the first action, a second one followed. That second action is typically sudden, striking, or unexpected.
In English it corresponds to “as soon as” or “the moment that”. The main clause is normally in the past tense, because the speaker is reporting something they observed. Do not confuse this with the listing particle なり～なり, which means “X or Y or the like”.
An immediate, often unexpected follow-up
The clause before なり sets up the trigger. The main clause describes what happened the moment it occurred, often a reaction nobody saw coming.
電話が鳴るなり、彼女は部屋を出て行った。
“The moment the phone rang, she left the room.”
- 電話（でんわ）= telephone
- が = subject marker
- 鳴る（なる）= to ring
- なり = as soon as
- 彼女（かのじょ）= she
- は = topic marker
- 部屋（へや）= room
- を = marks the place being exited
- 出て行った（でていった）= went out, left
彼は家に帰るなり、ベッドに倒れ込んだ。
“As soon as he got home, he collapsed onto the bed.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 家（いえ）= home, house
- に = destination marker
- 帰る（かえる）= to return home
- なり = as soon as
- ベッド = bed
- に = direction marker
- 倒れ込んだ（たおれこんだ）= collapsed onto
How to form it
Verb dictionary form + なり
- 帰る（かえる）= to return home → 帰るなり（かえるなり）= as soon as (someone) got home
- 見る（みる）= to see → 見るなり（みるなり）= the moment (someone) saw
- 聞く（きく）= to hear → 聞くなり（きくなり）= the moment (someone) heard
Key idea
～なり means “the moment X happened, Y followed”, with the flavor that Y was sudden or unexpected.
Other N1 grammar
Updated .