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Which translation is more probable for this conversation?

Japanese Language Asked by L. core on October 25, 2021

A high school boy talking to the phone:

"ええ"

"今ちょっと 出てますけど"

"はい"

"泊まっていく そうです"

"はい"

"伝えますっ"

Scene ends.

To me it seems (context-wise) that he’s covering for his childhood friend (in the story) who didn’t come back home yet, saying that he’s going to stay the night at his place.

But a translation that has been made for it was like this:

"Yeah…"

"I’m gonna be out for a while…"

"Yeah."

"Looks like I’ll be spending the night."

"Yeah"

"I’ll let her… know!"

Scene ends

In this translation, it seem that he’s talking to his parent telling them he’s gonna spend the night out.

After the scene, there’s nothing that indicates which one is correct.

I hope to get an opinion of someone more knowledgeable than me to see which translation is/seems more probable.

Thank you.

One Answer

This translation seems wrong. Even when there are no explicit personal pronouns, it's often possible to infer who this speaker is talking about.

  • 出てます (short for 出ています) indicates someone is already away from home. It never refers to something in the future like "I will be out".
  • This そうです is a hearsay marker, and it's unlikely to describe the speaker's own plan like this.

So this high school boy and the person over the phone are talking about someone else in the boy's home.

Answered by naruto on October 25, 2021

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