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kaze de soutaisita tomodati ni kyuukou no koto wo messeezi de tutaemasita.

風邪かぜ　で　早退そうたいした　友達ともだち　に　休講きゅうこう　の　こと　を　メッセージ　で　伝つたえました。kaze de soutaisita tomodati ni kyuukou no koto wo messeezi de tutaemasita.
I sent a message to my friend, who left early because of a cold, to tell her that class was canceled.
FromLesson 61inHardcore Japanese

Questions & Answers about kaze de soutaisita tomodati ni kyuukou no koto wo messeezi de tutaemasita.

Why is で used after 風邪?

Here, で marks the reason/cause for what happened.

  • 風邪で = because of a cold
  • So 風邪で早退した means left early because of a cold

This is a very common use of で:

  • 病気で休みました = I was absent because of illness
  • 雪で電車が遅れた = The train was delayed because of snow

So this で is not the location marker. It is the cause marker.

What part does 早退した modify?

早退した modifies 友達.

So:

  • 早退した友達 = the friend who left early
  • 風邪で早退した友達 = the friend who left early because of a cold

Japanese puts modifying information before the noun. So instead of saying:

  • the friend who left early because of a cold

Japanese says:

  • because of a cold left-early friend

That is a normal relative clause pattern in Japanese.

Does 風邪で describe the speaker, or the friend?

It describes the friend.

That is because 風邪で早退した forms one chunk that modifies 友達:

  • [風邪で早退した] 友達
  • the friend [who left early because of a cold]

So the sentence is not saying that I had a cold. It is saying the friend left early because of a cold.

Why is に used after 友達?

に marks the recipient of the information.

  • 友達に伝えました = I told/informed my friend

With verbs like 伝える, に often marks the person to whom something is conveyed.

So in this sentence:

  • 友達に = to my friend
  • 休講のことを伝えました = conveyed the information about the canceled class
What does 休講のこと mean? Why not just 休講を?

休講のこと means the matter of the canceled class or more naturally the fact/details that the class was canceled.

  • 休講 = class cancellation / no class
  • のこと = about / the matter of

So:

  • 休講のことを伝えました = I told them about the canceled class

Using のこと often makes the object sound like a piece of information, a matter, or a topic rather than just a bare noun.

In many cases, 休講を伝えました would sound less natural or less complete, because 伝える often conveys information about something. So 休講のこと is a natural way to express that.

What does メッセージで mean here?

メッセージで means by message or through a message.

Here, で marks the means/method used to do something.

  • メッセージで伝えました = I informed them by message

This で is the same kind of by means of marker as in:

  • 電話で話しました = I talked by phone
  • メールで送りました = I sent it by email

So this sentence uses で twice, but with different roles:

  • 風邪で = cause/reason
  • メッセージで = means/method
What is the role of 伝えました here?

伝えました is the polite past form of 伝える, which means to convey, to tell, or to inform.

So:

  • 伝えました = told / informed / conveyed

In this sentence, it means the speaker informed the friend about the canceled class.

A very natural English translation would be:

  • I messaged my friend who left early because of a cold to tell them about the canceled class.
  • or I told my friend by message about the canceled class.
Why is there no subject like 私が in the sentence?

Japanese often omits the subject when it is clear from context.

So even though the sentence does not explicitly say I, the verb 伝えました strongly suggests the speaker is talking about their own action:

  • (私は) ... 伝えました = (I) informed ...

This is extremely normal in Japanese. If the subject is obvious, it is usually left out.

How should I understand the overall structure of the sentence?

A useful breakdown is:

  • 風邪で早退した友達に = to the friend who left early because of a cold
  • 休講のことを = about the canceled class
  • メッセージで = by message
  • 伝えました = informed / told

So the full structure is:

  • [recipient] に [content] を [method] で [verb]

More literally:

  • To the friend who left early because of a cold, I conveyed the matter of the canceled class by message.

More natural English:

  • I messaged my friend who left early because of a cold to tell them the class was canceled.
Is 早退した友達 the same as saying 友達は早退した?

Not exactly, though they are related.

  • 友達は早退した = My friend left early
  • 早退した友達 = the friend who left early

The first is a full sentence. The second is a noun phrase, where 早退した modifies 友達.

This is a key Japanese pattern:

  • verb + noun = noun that did the verb / noun that is connected with the verb

For example:

  • 買った本 = the book I bought
  • 日本に住んでいる人 = a person who lives in Japan
  • 早退した友達 = the friend who left early
Could the sentence be translated as I sent a message to my friend?

Yes, that is a very natural way to translate it, even though the Japanese literally says conveyed by message.

  • メッセージで伝えました literally = conveyed it by message
  • Natural English = sent a message or messaged

So a fluent translation could be:

  • I sent a message to my friend who left early because of a cold to tell them that class was canceled.

That captures the meaning well, even if it is not a word-for-word translation.

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