折に / 折には【おりに / おりには】

折に means "when", "on the occasion of": it picks out an occasion – a visit, a meeting, a trip – and says what happened then or what should happen then. A verb goes before it in the plain form, a noun with の. おり折 is a formal word for "time, occasion", and the pattern belongs to letters, business email and polite speech.

Because the register is formal, the verbs around 折に are usually honorific or humble: おあいしたお会いしたおり折, おこし越しのおり折, いらっしゃるおり折.

折に or とき

とき is the everyday word for the same thing. 折に is for an occasion worth naming – a visit, a meeting, a celebration – and sounds out of place for routine moments or in casual talk.

• × 朝ご飯を食べる折に新聞を読む → 朝ご飯を食べるときに新聞を読む

折には for a future occasion

With は, 折には usually looks ahead to an occasion that may come – "if you are ever ~" – and the sentence ends in a request or an invitation. This is the commonest form in letters and email.

With a past verb, 折には recalls an occasion both sides know, usually to thank someone for it.

Usage notes

These go beyond 折に after a verb or a noun.

その折

After その or あの, 折 points back to an occasion both sides know: "on that occasion".

何かの折に

なんか何かのおり折に is "some time or other", "when the chance comes".