Mediating between two people in Japanese: つまり and ということ

Level B2

Mediating between two people in Japanese: つまり and ということ

Your friend Leo has left his bike in the wrong place, and the building manager speaks to you in very polite Japanese. You are standing between the two. In this lesson you explain a restriction in simple words, pass on a request in the right register and check that both people understood the same thing. The central idea: change the words and the register for your listener, not what was said; mark what you don't know, and check with both sides.

Review: rules, limits and what others said

Six things come back here. ここには置かないことになっています (koko ni wa okanai koto ni natte imasu) gives a rule: it isn't supposed to go here. わけではありません (wake de wa arimasen) limits what was said: “it's not that…”. …そうです (sō desu) passes on something you heard, and …と言っていました (to itte imashita) says who said it. ちょっと難しいです (chotto muzukashii desu, “that's a bit difficult”) is often a gentle no. おっしゃいました (osshaimashita) is a respectful “said”, which you only need to recognize here.

Words for this lesson: つまり, ということ and the building

You've already used つまり (tsumari, “in other words”, “that is”) and ということ (to iu koto) to check what you heard. Here they say the same thing more plainly: つまり opens that version and ということ closes it: 置けないということです (okenai to iu koto desu), “that means it can't stay”. よろしい (yoroshii) is a polite いい (ii, all right), for asking someone you treat with respect. 合う (au) here means “to be right”; you usually ask with 合っていますか (atte imasu ka). 伝える (tsutaeru) is “to pass on”, 管理人 (kanrinin) the building manager, 駐輪場 (chūrinjō) a bike parking area, 非常口 (hijōguchi) an emergency exit, ルール (rūru) a rule, 理由 (riyū) a reason and 文化 (bunka) culture.

Model: the manager stops you at the door

Listen once without reading. The manager (A) speaks to you (B) about Leo's bike. こちら (kochira) is a polite ここ (koko, here). ご遠慮ください (go-enryo kudasai) literally asks people to hold back, and in practice means “please don't”. You'll see it on notices too: recognize it, but you don't need to say it. Notice what you do next: you don't guess, you say back what you understood, with つまり (tsumari), and the manager confirms. 友達 (tomodachi) is “friend”.

つまり…ということです: the same thing, more simply

Put the plain version between つまり and ということです. In these sentences it follows a plain form: 置けない (okenai, can't leave), 置ける (okeru, can leave), 出さない (dasanai, don't put out). After だめ (dame, not allowed), these sentences keep だ: だめだということです; compare だめなわけ (dame na wake), with な, in front of わけ. なら (nara) after 駐輪場 picks out the case that works: “in the bike parking, yes”. 今夜 (kon'ya) is “tonight”, も (mo) “too”, ゴミ (gomi) “trash” and 夜 (yoru) “night”. Add か and the same frame becomes a check: …ということですか, as you did with the manager. Remember that a bare つまり can sound like pressure; with the manager, the question with か shows you are only checking.

つまり、置けない／置ける／だめだということです

Model: telling Leo

Now you are talking to Leo (A), so you switch to plain forms. Two of his endings are only for recognizing: 置いちゃった (oichatta) is a casual 置いてしまった, “I went and left it”, and 行かなきゃ (ikanakya) is “I've got to go”. Look at your own lines. You keep the rule (ことになってるんだ, koto ni natteru n da, casual for ことになっています), you limit it (わけじゃないよ, wake ja nai yo, casual for わけではありません), and when Leo asks whether this is Japanese culture, you don't answer what you don't know. どうして (dōshite) is “why”, 今夜だけ (kon'ya dake) “just tonight”, and 聞いてみる (kiite miru) “I'll ask”.

Keep what was said: no wider, no narrower

自転車はだめです (jitensha wa dame desu) is correct Japanese, but it says more than the manager did: he spoke about this spot and sent bikes to the bike parking, he didn't ban them. A relay that says more or less than the source changes the message. わけではありません brings it back to what's true: 自転車がだめなわけではありません。ここに置けないだけです. だけ (dake) means “only”.

Before you relay, look for who, what, where, when and on what condition. 駐輪場なら (chūrinjō nara) keeps the condition, and そうです (sō desu) shows that it comes from someone else.

Reasons: say only what you know

The manager hasn't given a reason yet, so you don't have one to pass on. Don't fill the gap with “that's how it is in Japan”: nobody said that. 理由は聞いていません (riyū wa kiite imasen) says so honestly, and 文化のことは分かりません。このマンションのルールだそうです reports only what you have. マンション (manshon) is an apartment building. ほかのマンションは必ずしも同じではありません (hoka no manshon wa kanarazushimo onaji de wa arimasen), with the 必ずしも…ない (“not necessarily”) you already know, stops one building's rule from turning into a rule about a whole country.

If you have a guess, mark it as a guess: 多分 (tabun, probably) … と思います (to omoimasu, I think). Then find out: 確認します (kakunin shimasu, I'll check).

Model: asking on Leo's behalf

Back to the manager (A), and this time you (B) speak first. 伺って (ukagatte) is the humble “ask”, for your own action. The manager says おっしゃっていますか (osshatte imasu ka) about Leo to show him respect, but you answer with 言っている (itte iru): you don't use the respectful verb for your own friend here. Leo's 今夜だけここに置いてもいいか、聞いてくれる？ becomes 今夜だけここに置きたいと言っているのですが、よろしいでしょうか: same content, “just tonight” included, in a more careful form.

ちょっと難しいです sounds like a refusal, but you don't assume: you check with つまり…ということですか, and only his はい settles it. お渡しします (o-watashi shimasu, “we'll hand over”) is one to recognize. 鍵 (kagi) is “key”, 今夜から (kon'ya kara) “from tonight”.

Passing on a request: …と言っているのですが

Say whose wish it is (友達が, tomodachi ga), put it in the plain form before と言っている (to itte iru, “is saying”) and soften with のですが (no desu ga). Then ask for what you need: よろしいでしょうか (yoroshii deshō ka) for permission, ていただけますか (te itadakemasu ka) for an action, or a direct question. と言っている keeps the source in view: the wish is your friend's, not yours. It's 言っている, not 言っていました, because what your friend wants still holds now, whether or not he is with you: 言っていました would only report something he said earlier. よく分からない (yoku wakaranai) is “doesn't quite understand”, もう一度 (mō ichido) “once more”.

友達(ともだち)が、置きたい／分からない／使いたいと言っているのですが、よろしいでしょうか／…ていただけますか

Model: closing the loop

Last, back to Leo (A), in plain forms. You give the reason the manager really gave, then the new information: from tonight, and who has the key. Leo's 今夜もだめだって？ (kon'ya mo dame datte?) repeats what he just heard, with a casual って to recognize. You end with a short check, これでいい？ (kore de ii?), and only his 分かった (wakatta, got it) closes the matter. くれる (kureru) here is “gives you”.

Checking with both sides

You aren't finished when you've spoken: each side has to confirm. With the manager, sum up and ask: 今夜から駐輪場に置くということでよろしいでしょうか (kon'ya kara chūrinjō ni oku to iu koto de yoroshii deshō ka). Before よろしいでしょうか, the です of ということです becomes で: “so that's how it stands, is that all right?”. 私の説明で合っていますか (watashi no setsumei de atte imasu ka) asks if you explained it correctly, for example when you have explained something in front of the person who said it. これで合っていますか (kore de atte imasu ka) is the short form. With a friend, これでいい？ is enough. Use a check after an important point, not after every sentence.

One message, different levels

ご遠慮ください, 置かないでください (okanai de kudasai) and 置かないで (okanai de) ask the same thing: don't leave it here. The level of politeness changes, the request doesn't. So moving down to plain forms for a friend doesn't mean softening the rule, and moving up for the manager doesn't mean adding anything to it. The わけ pair shows the same thing: わけではありません with the manager, わけじゃないよ with Leo. English mostly changes tone and word choice; in Japanese the level changes the end of every sentence. Go by the person in front of you and how they speak with you.

Your turn: at the library, and a summary

A new place, the same steps. You're at a library with a friend you still speak to in です・ます, and a staff member says the first sentence. Cover the others and try: say what it means simply; say that calls aren't forbidden everywhere; pass on that your friend will be right back and wants to leave his things; then check what you understood, and check with your friend too, with これで合っていますか. 外 (soto) is “outside”, すぐ (sugu) “right away”, 戻る (modoru) “to come back” and 荷物 (nimotsu) “things, bags”. Nobody said why, so if your friend asks, 理由は聞いていません is the answer.

In short: say it simply with つまり…ということです, pass on a request with …と言っているのですが, keep who, what, when and the condition, mark what you don't know and check with both sides.

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