Apr 24, 2016 23:19
8 yrs ago
Japanese term
Italy
現れた時点で
Non-PRO
Japanese to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Dear ProZ members,
I have a little doubt about this sentence. A person is warning a detective, saying to be careful about a particular thief, because...
夜、人目に付きやすいあの白い衣装で現れた時点で彼は余裕綽々なんだから
This is the official English translation: "When he appears at night, wearing that conspicuous white costume, he's always cool, calm and collected".
However, since the verb is in the past tense (現れた時点で), shouldn't the sentence refer to a particular moment in the past ("When he appeared at night...")?
Thank you very much for your help!
I have a little doubt about this sentence. A person is warning a detective, saying to be careful about a particular thief, because...
夜、人目に付きやすいあの白い衣装で現れた時点で彼は余裕綽々なんだから
This is the official English translation: "When he appears at night, wearing that conspicuous white costume, he's always cool, calm and collected".
However, since the verb is in the past tense (現れた時点で), shouldn't the sentence refer to a particular moment in the past ("When he appeared at night...")?
Thank you very much for your help!
Proposed translations
(English)
| 3 +1 | when he appears |
Port City
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Proposed translations
+1
45 mins
Selected
when he appears
The present tense is OK. Instead of referring to a particular moment in the past, it refers to a certain condition, i.e., when he appears at night, wearing that conspicuous white costume.
Here is a similar example, where the past tense is used in a conditional clause.
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q111...
Please see 1-B below:
http://www.ravco.jp/cat/view.php?cat_id=5140
Here is a similar example, where the past tense is used in a conditional clause.
http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q111...
Please see 1-B below:
http://www.ravco.jp/cat/view.php?cat_id=5140
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much! I knew the usage with the conditional -tara form, but I didn't know how to interpret that -ta jiten."
Discussion
「人目につきやすい白い衣装で現れた」ことが余裕綽々の証ということです。