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First, I came across this sentence using と in a way I've never encountered
before.

> ピノキオはうそを吐くと、鼻が長くなります。

My translation: When/As Pinocchio tells lies his nose becomes longer.

After a little research and based on the context of the sentence I figured
this use of と must mean 'when' or 'as' as opposed to the 'and' meaning but
then I started wondering what the difference is between this 'when' and the
時【とき】 'when' and the たら 'when' in terms of usage.
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2014-04-27T14:24:08.997
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2014-06-03T16:12:47.770
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question
grammar translation particles time
What is the difference between と, たら and 時【とき】?
They could all be translated to 'when' in English but:

AとB in this case indicates that A first happens, then immediately after B
happens. This is the case in your example!

たら can have more uncertainty in it, i.e. it can be used to express sentences
where you'd use 'if' in English.

I think of とき as 'the time when' or 'everytime when'.

Just offering my two cents here. I am still learning too!:) I'm not good
enough to provide the lengthy grammatical replies you usually get on this
site, so sorry if it's a bit short. Anyway, at this level I find shorter
answers more helpful. Hope you agree:)
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2014-04-27T16:08:16.960
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2014-04-28T16:52:27.297
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answer
### Causality

In broad terms, I've noticed three kinds of constructions that loosely
correlate to "if / then". The main differences between these appear to be
differences in emphasis and causal relationship.

  * 行くと XX  
Tells us _whenever_ someone goes, XX happens. XX is an inevitable consequence
of the verb.

  * 行けば XX  
Tells us that _only if_ someone goes, XX happens. The verb is a precondition
of XX.

  * 行ったら XX  
Seems to be the most neutral. If [verb], then XX; or possibly, after [verb],
then XX. This is less causally strict, and seems a bit more casual in that
respect: "if you happen to go, or on the off chance that you go, then XX".

### Timing

Various constructions are used to describe the order of events. Among these,

  * 行くと XX  
This still has strong causal overtones, so this is probably best glossed as
"whenever [verb], XX".

  * 行ったら 
  * 行ってから  
These two are often regarded as synonymous when describing the order of
events. One teacher of mine even suggested that -たら was a contraction of -てから,
though it bears noting that Shogakukan, Daijirin, and others state that the
-たら ending is the potential form of past auxiliary た, itself a contraction of
たる, a contraction of て + ある.  
The basic sense is "[verb] happens, and then ..."

  * 行くとき  
Literally, "the time when [subject] goes". This more specifically refers to
the point in time when the [verb] happens.
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answer