～ とき

[hoamanda_500464]

Hi,

Not sure why the た form is incorrect, seems logical to me, as it is past tense?
The answer given was the dictionary form.

私は昨日家へ 帰る とき、駅で田中さんに会いました。

アマンダ

[community.japanese]

アマンダさん、

今日は。
私は昨日家へ 帰る とき、駅で田中さんに会いました and 私は昨日家へ 帰った とき、駅で田中さんに会いました are different.

私は昨日家へ 帰る とき、駅で田中さんに会いました　means “on the way to go home I met Mr Tanaka at a station yesterday”.

私は昨日家へ 帰ったとき means “when I arrived at my house”. If your house is a station it’s ok. Otherwise, it would be impossible to meet Mr Tanaka at a station at home.

Therefore verb forms before とき are important.

Other examples are
日本に行くときスーツケースを買いました。Before going to Japan I bought a suitcase.
It means I bought that in your country.
日本に行ったときスーツケースを買いました。I bought a suitcase in Japan.
It means firstly I went to Japan and bought the suitcase.

I hope it could be helpful.

Yuki 　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com