日本でも / かなり前から... / は / 指定席券 / 入れてみます / くる

Hiya,

1. 日本でも、かなり前から、見合い結婚より恋愛結婚の方 が多くなっているそうですね。

My translation: "I've heard that in Japan, too, love marriages have been more common than arranged marriages for quite a long time, right?"

Is this correct? I'm unsure, especially, about かなり前から, which I translated as "for quite a long time", and 日本でも, which I figured was 日本で ("in Japan") + も ("too").


2. 少しは高くても、物のいいほうが得です。

Translation given: "It pays to buy things of good quality, even though they might be a little more expensive."

This sentence puzzles me. Is は a topic marker? How is 少し the topic of the sentence?


3. A station employee is making out a ticket for a passenger.

駅員： はい、お待たせしました。１２月２０日名古屋 発１５時１３分のひかり４１６号、東京着が１７時１３ 分、座席は６号車２０のDです。
ビル： 指定席券は、いらないんですか。
駅員： 指定席券は、特急券と一緒になっています。こ ちらは乗車券です。
ビル： そうですか。便利ですね。いくらですか。

This is my translation:

"Station clerk: Sorry to have kept you waiting. "Hidari 416", 20th December, departing Nagoya 15:13, arriving Tokyo 17:13, car no. 6, seat 20D.

Bill: Do I need a seat reservation?

Station clerk: Seat reservations come with special express tickets. This is an ordinary passenger ticket.

Bill: I see. That [the ticket with the seat reservation] sounds convenient. How much is it?"

As I've translated it, it makes no sense because the ticket clerk gives him a seat reservation (car 6, seat 20D) but then the rest of the conversation carries on as if he doesn't have a seat reservation. What have I misunderstood?


4. A travel agent clerk is talking to someone about a hotel reservation.

では、早速予約を入れてみますので、この用紙にお名前 とご住所をお願いします。

My translation: "Well, we should try to make a booking straight away, so please write your name and address on this form."

Is this OK? I am not certain about 入れてみます.


5. 私はちょっとお風呂に入ってくるけど、みんなどうしま すか。

My translation: "I'm just going(?) to have a bath. What about you guys?"

What meaning does くる have here? The context seems to suggest that the speaker is going to have a bath", rather than just coming from having a bath.

eeky said:

1. 日本でも、かなり前から、見合い結婚より恋愛結婚の方が多くなっているそうですね。
My translation: "I've heard that in Japan, too, love marriages have been more common than arranged marriages for quite a long time, right?"
Is this correct? I'm unsure, especially, about かなり前から, which I translated as "for quite a long time", and 日本でも, which I figured was 日本で ("in Japan") + も ("too").

Click to expand...

Both are correct.

eeky said:

2. 少しは高くても、物のいいほうが得です。
Translation given: "It pays to buy things of good quality, even though they might be a little more expensive."
This sentence puzzles me. Is は a topic marker? How is 少し the topic of the sentence?

Click to expand...

The particle は acts rather as a contrasitive marker when follows quantitative adverbs. In affirmative sentences, it affirms the quantity expressed by the adverb, and suggests the negation of larger quantities than it.
e.g.
英語が少しはわかります。（＝多くはわかりません。）
I can understand English a little.(= I can't understand much).

Thus, 少しは高い means that 少し高い is OK but かなり高い is not.

eeky said:

3. A station employee is making out a ticket for a passenger.
駅員： はい、お待たせしました。１２月２０日名古屋発１５時１３分のひかり４１６号、東京着が１７時１３分、座席は６号車２０のDです。
ビル： 指定席券は、いらないんですか。
駅員： 指定席券は、特急券と一緒になっています。こちらは乗車券です。
ビル： そうですか。便利ですね。いくらですか。
This is my translation:
"Station clerk: Sorry to have kept you waiting. "Hidari 416", 20th December, departing Nagoya 15:13, arriving Tokyo 17:13, car no. 6, seat 20D.
Bill: Do I need a seat reservation?
Station clerk: Seat reservations come with special express tickets. This is an ordinary passenger ticket.
Bill: I see. That [the ticket with the seat reservation] sounds convenient. How much is it?"
As I've translated it, it makes no sense because the ticket clerk gives him a seat reservation (car 6, seat 20D) but then the rest of the conversation carries on as if he doesn't have a seat reservation. What have I misunderstood?

Click to expand...

Bill asked about 指定席券 or the seat reservation ticket, and the clerk answered that the seat reservation is printed on the special express ticket(so you don't need another ticket for the seat reservation).

eeky said:

4. A travel agent clerk is talking to someone about a hotel reservation.
では、早速予約を入れてみますので、この用紙にお名前とご住所をお願いします。
My translation: "Well, we should try to make a booking straight away, so please write your name and address on this form."
Is this OK? I am not certain about 入れてみます.

Click to expand...

入れてみます connotes something like "we might fail the booking (but try)". It's a kind of humble expression.

eeky said:

5. 私はちょっとお風呂に入ってくるけど、みんなどうしますか。
My translation: "I'm just going(?) to have a bath. What about you guys?"
What meaning does くる have here? The context seems to suggest that the speaker is going to have a bath", rather than just coming from having a bath.

Click to expand...

That's the same usage as 行ってくる. It connotes somewhat "to go and take a bath and come back", even for the bathroom in the house.

Toritoribe said:

Bill asked about 指定席券 or the seat reservation ticket, and the clerk answered that the seat reservation is printed on the special express tichet(so you don't need another tichet for the seat reservation).

Click to expand...

Thanks Toritoribe. Do you understand, then, that the ticket the clerk has made out for Bill is a special express ticket with the seat reservation already printed on it? If so, what do you think the clerk is referring to when he says こちらは乗車券です? (I'm assuming that 乗車券 is another type of ticket, different from the special express ticket with the seat reservation printed on it.)

eeky said:

Thanks Toritoribe. Do you understand, then, that the ticket the clerk has made out for Bill is a special express ticket with the seat reservation already printed on it? If so, what do you think the clerk is referring to when he says こちらは乗車券です? (I'm assuming that 乗車券 is another type of ticket, different from the special express ticket with the seat reservation printed on it.)

Click to expand...

乗車券 is a ticket for the fare for travelling the distance.
特急券 is a ticket for the special additional cost for express travelling.
座席指定券 is a ticket for the seat reservation.

Depending on where you buy the ticket - ticket booth at the station, vending machine at the station, or travelling agency, for example - also depending on the machine used at the counter, sometimes they are combined and just one or two ticket(s) are issued. sometimes even three separate tickets though it is rather rate these days.

In the context you've quoted, they issue two tickets, one for the fare, another for the additional cost (express + seat reservation).

Thank you undrentide. I understand it now.

As undrentide-san explained, the clerk handed another ticket saying これが乗車券です or "Here is an ordinary ticket."
See the picture below. The two at the upper left are "special express tickets with a seat reservation printed on it" (the upper one is for bullet trains), and the one at the bottom left is a 自由席特急券 or "special express unreserved seat ticket". Incidentally, the upper right one is an all-in-one ticket for unreserved seat.


And here is a 乗車券.

Toritoribe said:

As undrentide-san explained, the clerk handed another ticket saying これが乗車券です or "Here is an ordinary ticket."

Click to expand...

Yeah, the fact that Bill had two tickets was the crucial thing that I didn't grasp. Thank you for all the pictures!