Breakdown of tamatama onazi bukken wo mini kite ita onnanohito to sukosi hanasimasita.
Questions & Answers about tamatama onazi bukken wo mini kite ita onnanohito to sukosi hanasimasita.
How is this sentence broken down?
A natural breakdown is:
たまたま / 同じ物件を / 見に来ていた / 女の人と / 少し / 話しました。
Piece by piece:
- たまたま = by chance, coincidentally
- 同じ物件を = the same property
- 見に来ていた = had come to see / was there to see
- 女の人と = with a woman / with the woman
- 少し = a little, briefly
- 話しました = talked
So the structure is basically:
I talked briefly with a woman who had happened to come see the same property.
What does たまたま mean here?
たまたま means by chance, coincidentally, or happened to.
It tells you that the situation was not planned. The speaker happened to meet this woman there.
So it affects the feeling of the whole sentence:
- not arranged
- not intentional
- just a coincidence
In English, this might be translated as:
- By chance, I talked a little with...
- I happened to talk a little with...
- I talked briefly with a woman who just happened to...
What does 物件 mean? Is it just thing/object?
No. Although 物 can mean thing, 物件 usually has a more specific meaning.
In everyday Japanese, 物件 often means a real estate property such as:
- an apartment
- a house
- a rental unit
- a condo
So in this sentence, 同じ物件 most likely means the same property listing / apartment / house that the speaker was visiting.
It does not usually mean a random physical object here.
Why is it 同じ物件 and not 同じな物件?
同じ is a little unusual. Even though it behaves somewhat like a modifier, it does not normally take な before a noun in modern standard Japanese.
So you say:
- 同じ人 = the same person
- 同じ場所 = the same place
- 同じ物件 = the same property
Not normally:
- 同じな物件
So just remember 同じ + noun as the standard pattern.
What is the role of を in 同じ物件を見に来ていた?
The を marks 物件 as the thing being seen/looked at.
The verb idea is based on 見る = to see / to look at.
So:
- 物件を見る = to look at a property
When that verb is turned into the purpose form with に, it becomes:
- 物件を見に来る = to come to see a property
So を still belongs to 見る, even though 来る is the final verb in that chunk.
Why is it 見に来ていた? What does に do here?
The に marks purpose.
Pattern:
- verb stem + に + 行く/来る
Examples:
- 食べに行く = go to eat
- 買いに来る = come to buy
- 見に来る = come to see
Here:
- 見る → 見
- 見に来る = come to see
So 同じ物件を見に来ていた means:
had come to see the same property
or
was there to see the same property
This is a very common grammar pattern.
Why is it 来ていた instead of just 来た or 来ました?
来ていた is the past form of 来ている, and here it describes a continuing state in the past.
Compare:
- 来た = came
- 来ていた = had come and was there / had been there after coming
In this sentence, the woman is being described as someone who was already there for the purpose of seeing the property.
So 見に来ていた女の人 feels like:
- the woman who had come to see it
- the woman who was there to see it
If you used 来た, it would focus more simply on the action of coming.
来ていた gives a more natural background-description feeling.
Is 見に来ていた女の人 one big noun phrase?
Yes.
Japanese often puts a whole clause before a noun to describe it.
So:
- 見に来ていた = who had come to see
- 女の人 = woman
Together:
- 見に来ていた女の人 = the woman who had come to see
And with the rest:
- 同じ物件を見に来ていた女の人 = the woman who had come to see the same property
This is one of the most important features of Japanese sentence structure: relative clauses come before the noun.
Why does it say 女の人 instead of just 女性 or 女?
女の人 is a very common, neutral, everyday way to say woman.
Compare:
- 女の人 = woman, everyday and natural
- 女性 = woman/female, more formal or written
- 女 = woman/female, but can sound blunt or rude depending on context
So 女の人 is a safe and natural choice in ordinary conversation and narration.
Why is there a と after 女の人?
Here と marks the person the speaker talked with.
Pattern:
- A と 話す = talk with A
So:
- 女の人と話しました = talked with a woman
This is different from と meaning and.
In this sentence, it means with.
Why is it 少し話しました? Does 少し mean a little or for a short time?
It can suggest both, depending on context.
少し話しました naturally means:
- talked a little
- talked briefly
- talked for a short time
It does not necessarily mean the content was small in an exact measurable way. It often just softens the statement and gives the feeling that the conversation was brief.
Why is there no explicit subject like 私は?
Because Japanese often omits information that is clear from context.
Here, the final verb 話しました strongly suggests the speaker is talking about their own action, so I is understood.
A fuller version could be:
- 私は、たまたま同じ物件を見に来ていた女の人と少し話しました。
But in natural Japanese, 私は is often left out if it is obvious.
What exactly does 見に来ていた describe: the property or the woman?
Can this sentence be understood as I talked to a woman who happened to be looking at the same property?
Yes, that is a very natural understanding.
Depending on translation style, you could render it as:
- I happened to talk briefly with a woman who had come to see the same property.
- I talked briefly with a woman who was there to see the same property too.
- By chance, I spoke a little with a woman who was looking at the same property.
The exact English wording can vary, but the Japanese grammar points remain the same.
Why is the word order so different from English?
Because Japanese usually puts descriptive information before the noun and puts the main verb at the end.
English might say:
- I talked a little with a woman who had come to see the same property by chance.
Japanese instead builds toward the main verb:
- By chance / same property / to see had come / woman with / a little / talked
This can feel backwards to English speakers, but it is completely normal in Japanese. A useful habit is to identify:
That makes the sentence much easier to parse.
Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor
Start learning JapaneseMaster Japanese — from tamatama onazi bukken wo mini kite ita onnanohito to sukosi hanasimasita to fluency
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
- ✓Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
- ✓Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
- ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions