～ところを
in the act of / scene of
ところ literally means “place / point”. After a verb, it refers to a specific point in an action. With ～ところを, that moment becomes part of a larger sentence: someone sees it, interrupts it, or otherwise acts on it. It often corresponds to English expressions like “see someone doing” or “while someone is in the middle of...”.
Unlike ～ところだ, which simply reports what stage an action is at (about to do, doing, just did), ～ところを embeds that moment inside a larger sentence.
1. Witnessing or catching someone in the act
The verb after ところを is typically 見る, 見られる, 捕まえる, or 発見する. The passive version often carries a nuance of being caught at an awkward moment.
子供たちがサッカーをするところを見た。
“I saw the children playing soccer.”
- 子供たち（こどもたち）= children
- が = subject marker
- サッカー = soccer
- を = object marker
- する = to do / to play
- ところを = the scene of (marked as object)
- 見た（みた）= saw
先生に居眠りしているところを見られた。
“I was caught dozing off by the teacher.”
- 先生（せんせい）= teacher
- に = agent marker (by)
- 居眠りしている（いねむりしている）= dozing off
- ところを = in the act of
- 見られた（みられた）= was seen
2. Polite apologies for interrupting
In set phrases, ところを acknowledges the situation someone is in while you impose on them, “at a time when you are busy”.
お忙しいところをすみません。
“I am sorry to bother you when you are busy.”
- お忙しい（おいそがしい）= busy (polite)
- ところを = at a time when
- すみません = I am sorry / excuse me
How to form it
Verb plain form (dictionary / ている / た) + ところを + another verb
- する = to do → するところを見た（するところをみた）= saw (someone) doing it
- 寝ている（ねている）= is sleeping → 寝ているところを見られた（ねているところをみられた）= was seen sleeping
- 逃げる（にげる）= to flee → 逃げるところを捕まえた（にげるところをつかまえた）= caught (them) as they fled
Key idea
～ところを freezes an action at its critical moment and embeds that snapshot in a larger sentence: someone sees, catches, photographs, or otherwise reacts to the very scene of it happening.
Built on the same stem
Updated .