そうです / から / 書こうとしたら / 行かれる / さらに

[eeky]

Hello,

1. Can そうです be used when one hears information about a person from the person him/herself? For example, I've seen many translations like:

上田さんは来年日本へ帰ろうと考えているそうです = "I hear that Mr Ueda is thinking of returning to Japan next year"

but I don't recall seeing one like "Mr Ueda says that he is thinking of returning to Japan next year". Is that a possible meaning?


2. 仕事が終わったから帰ろう。

The translation given is "We've finished the job so let's go home." Which of the following are also possible meanings in the right context?

"Let's go home after we've finished the job." (i.e. job not yet finished)
"I've finished the job so I'm going home."
"I'm going home after I've finished the job."


3. 手紙を書こうとしたら、電話がかかってきました。

Translation given: "The phone rang just as I was about to write a letter"

Could this also mean "The phone rang just as I was trying to write a letter"?


4. 中村さんは来月アメリカへ行かれると伺っております。

Translation given: "I hear that Mr Nakamura is going to the United States next month."

Is 行かれる here an honorific form of 行く?


5. This sentence is about a car park manager's plan for charging different rates for different floors:

さっそく２階は１時間２００円にして、３階はそれよりさらに５０円安くしました。

I understand this OK apart from さらに. The dictionary definitions are "furthermore; again; after all; more and more; moreover; even more", which seems almost the exact opposite of the required meaning, given (I assume) that the third floor is ５０円 cheaper than the second?

 

[Toritoribe]

1. Can そうです be used when one hears information about a person from the person him/herself? For example, I've seen many translations like:
上田さんは来年日本へ帰ろうと考えているそうです = "I hear that Mr Ueda is thinking of returning to Japan next year"
but I don't recall seeing one like "Mr Ueda says that he is thinking of returning to Japan next year". Is that a possible meaning?

Yes, it's possible. そうです just means it's a hearsay. It might be just a rumor, or the speaker could hear it directly from the person.

2. 仕事が終わったから帰ろう。
The translation given is "We've finished the job so let's go home." Which of the following are also possible meanings in the right context?
"Let's go home after we've finished the job." (i.e. job not yet finished)
"I've finished the job so I'm going home."
"I'm going home after I've finished the job."

2
Yes.

1, 3
No. 仕事が終わったら帰ろう

から expresses the reason/cause, whereas たら is a conditional.

3. 手紙を書こうとしたら、電話がかかってきました。
Translation given: "The phone rang just as I was about to write a letter"
Could this also mean "The phone rang just as I was trying to write a letter"?

No. 手紙を書いていたら is usually used when you actually started writing the letter.

4
4. 中村さんは来月アメリカへ行かれると伺っております。
Translation given: "I hear that Mr Nakamura is going to the United States next month."
Is 行かれる here an honorific form of 行く?

Yes.

5. This sentence is about a car park manager's plan for charging different rates for different floors:
さっそく２階は１時間２００円にして、３階はそれより さらに５０円安くしました。
I understand this OK apart from さらに. The dictionary definitions are "furthermore; again; after all; more and more; moreover; even more", which seems almost the exact opposite of the required meaning, given (I assume) that the third floor is ５０円 cheaper than the second?

Right. The example sentence means so. Isn't the price of the second floor also changed to the cheaper one, for instance, from 300 yen to 200 yen? (Thus, the third is even cheaper than the second.)

 

[eeky]

Hi Toritoribe, thanks for your reply. Regarding #2, Is it possible somehow to express the meaning "Let's go home after we've finished the job" in approximately the same way as the original sentence (making some small change as necessary), using から to mean "after"?

 

[Toritoribe]

仕事が終わってから/仕事を終えてから帰ろう is the one. (～てからmeans "after".)

 

[eeky]

仕事が終わってから/仕事を終えてから帰ろう is the one. (～てからmeans "after".)

Aha. It's the た/て that I'm getting muddled with. Thank you!

 

[Tomii515]

Just a random question, when saying "to think about/of doing something", is it always ～おうと考える?

 

[Glenn]

～うと思う is more common, I think. 思う is more the "feel" "think", whereas 考える is more of a "consider" "think", if that makes sense.