市川さんの浮世絵 / もあれば / 教えてあげてね / はず

[eeky]

Hi,


1. 私は市川さんの浮世絵と手ぬぐいをもらいました。お土 産です。

My translation: "I got a print of Ichikawa-san and a hand towel as souvenirs."

a) I guess from the context that 市川さんの浮世絵 probably means a print depicting Ichikawa-san, rather than one drawn by him. But grammatically could it mean either?

b) Does もらいました imply that these things were gifts to the speaker? Or could he have bought them at the gift shop, for example?


2. お店の人が注文したものを持って来る時のお金を払う店 もあれば、逆に、最後にまとめてお金を払う店もあるの 。

My translation: "As well as restaurants where you pay where you pay [for items individually] at the time the staff bring your order, there are now also places where you pay for everything together [i.e. they give you one bill at the end of the meal]."

a) Does お店の人 refer to the restaurant staff? Is お店の人 the subject of 持って来る (as opposed to 払う)?

b) Is ... もあれば ... もある basically just saying that both types of restaurant exist, more or less the same as ... もある ... もある?


3. 今度ベン君を連れて行ってあげるよ。いつがいいか教え て！歌舞伎座から歩いて１５分程で行く事が出来るの。 だから、ベン君のお母さんにも教えてあげてね。

My translation: "Next time I'll take you [Ben] there. Let me know when would be a good time! It's (only) 15 minutes' walk from the kabuki theatre. I'll tell your mother too."

a) Does 行く事が出来るの simply mean that it's possible to get to this place (by foot in 15 minutes)?

b) Is 教えてあげてね a statement of intent by the writer that he/she will tell Ben's mother?

c) Is it possible from this except to understand the likely connection expressed by だから?


4. そうそう、来週は漢字テストがあるはず。

My translation: "Anyway, next week there's a kanji test."

What is the difference in this case between ～があるはず and ～がある? Does はず express the speaker's expectation?

 

[Toritoribe]

1) a)
Yes, it's possible.

b)
Indeed もらう can mean "to buy" depending on the context, but it's the former in this case.

2)
Isn't it 持って来る時にお金を払う?

a) b)
Yes.

3) a)
Yes.

b)
No. Probably you are confusing 教えてあげてね with 教えてあげるね. It means "Please tell your mother".

c)
It's easy to go there (since it's only 15 minutes' walk), so let's go with your mother.

4)
そうそう shows that the speaker has just recalled that. はず gives a kind of uncertainness.

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe,

2) Yeah, sorry, it should be に.

3b) In this sort of situation, I am often confused about whether or not something is an instruction/imperative. In situations where one person is talking to another, is ～て（ね） at the end of a sentence always an imperative?

 

[Toritoribe]

Not always. It can be "... and then ~" with the following part being omitted.
e.g.
A: そのあと、ベン君のお母さんにも教えてあげてね
B: それで？
A: お母さん、びっくりしちゃってさあ

These two あげてね have different pitch accents.

 

[eeky]

So how do you know that the original sentence doesn't mean:

"... so, I'll tell your mother, and then..." (omitted: "... see if she wants to go too", or whatever)

?

I would guess the answer is possibly (i) because this is an email not a dialogue, and/or (ii) because the "... and then ~" interpretation that you describe can't refer to future events. Are either of those reasons correct?

 

[Toritoribe]

This expression can be used also for future events, for instance, as an inversion.
e.g.
みんなで一緒にその店に行こうと思うの。ベン君のお母さんにも教えてあげてね。
（＝ ベン君のお母さんにも教えてあげて、みんなで一緒にその店に行こうと思うの。）

As I wrote, this ～てね is the continuous usage of the -te form, so there must be a clause/phrase following it. If there is something actually written or easily imaginable from the context, it can mean "I'll tell". In the first place, there are so many expressions to say "I'll tell your mother" other than 教えてあげてね with no risk of being misinterpreted as "Please tell your mother". Even my example above could be misinterpreted without the pitch accent. People usually avoid using such expressions, I think.

 

[eeky]

I see, thanks, that is very useful. Does what you say also apply to plain ～て (no ね), or is that a different case?

 

[Toritoribe]

This is from usages of the -te form, so ね is not a critical factor. However, there are some sentence final particles that can be used only in either case. For instance, ～てさ can't mean "Please do", females don't use ～てよ for the continuous one, and so on.