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I'm reading the manga (hence a more free form writing and lack of punctuation, I get that) and I have this passage (slashes indicate bubble breaks):

A: それじゃあ 確認 / 作戦開始は暗くなってから

A: それまでに

B: 私は「Robots」の材料を集めて回って ここの地下に転送

B: Aがそれを準備してくれる / だったわよね?

Context: A and B will later steal a bunch of machine parts and machines to make the "Robots" and cause ruckus with them, all in one night.

So far this is what I think this passage means, roughly.

A: In that case let’s confirm, / the operation starts after it gets dark... by that time...

B: You A will have made preparation for transfer of material for "Robots" that I gather in the basement here, won't you?

I have a problem with two things here.

One is this line

私は「Robots」の材料を集めて回って ここの地下に転送

Literally: Transfer to basement here of "Robots"'s material I (will) gather by visiting several places.

which I don't know how it works out grammatically. I'm assuming it's a fragment being completed by the next bit. Also I'm assuming 私は「Robots」の材料を集めて回って ここ is some kind of preposition but I'm not sure. The "V-te form ここ" for is weird to me.

The next bit

Aがそれを準備してくれる / だったわよね?

Literally: A (will) for that do the preparations for me / it was am I right?

ties into the previous one with それ referring to the transfer (this might not be a term to use for transporting matter IRL, but it's a term often used for teleporting stuff in universe) of material.

Now if it was just Aがそれを準備してくれる I'd say this means just "A will make preparations for that", meaning this will happen in future or is being done since it's non-past tense. What is confusing for me is the next bit

だったわよね?

since as far as I recall だった is a past form of だ and as such tends to not be appended DIRECTLY on to the verbs. So I'm guessing this is probably a separate sentence or separated by a comma or something. But still why is it in past form when the action should probably happen in future? Basically what am I missing here?

Now that I have typed the above, I guess the last bit could be reffering to B's entire recounting of the plan. A sort of:

That was it wasn't it? / That's all of it right?

asking for confirmation if she has the plan right.

Basically I'm asking how does the bolded line above work from grammatical standpoint and am I wrong in my interpretations.

Also sorry for being a bit more open ended in my question than I was supposed to be.

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  • 私は「Robots」の~ is not a fragment. It's a complete sentence. The verb 転送する is reduced to 転送 and the subject is 私. Also, ここ is just plain "this place", the building where they are.
    – marasai
    Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 22:32
  • I've seen a lot of contractions, but would be the first time I see them contracting the bit that indicates this word is a verb not the nounstem. Commented Aug 9, 2018 at 23:24

1 Answer 1

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This それじゃあ (それでは, では, じゃあ) means "Now", "Okay" or "Well then". See: "Dewa" for changing the subject

私は「Robots」の材料を集めて回って、(材料を)ここの地下に転送(する)。

Looks like you tried to take 転送 as a noun. This 転送 is a suru-verb but する has been omitted. If it were a noun, it could not be modified by an adverbial expression 地下に. The sentence can be translated without any relative clause, "I will go around and gather Robot's material, and transfer it to the basement here."

Aがそれを準備してくれる。

Yes this それ refers to 転送. "A (=You) will prepare for that (=the transferring process) for me."

だったわよね?

This is a standalone sentence that begins with だった. In casual speech a sentence can start with the copula だ, and it refers to what has been mentioned in the context. You may think そう has been omitted before だ. For example "だね。" by itself means the same thing as "そうだね。" or "Yeah that's right." I think this is in past tense simply because B is referring to what was said in the past. "Did I get it right?" rather than "Is my current understanding correct?" B can also say "(そう)よね?" instead here. The difference is small.

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  • So it is a verb... how common is this suru dropping? Does it carry any nuance? Commented Aug 10, 2018 at 12:32
  • @4thdimension Whenever brevity and impact is important, such as in news headlines, militaristic commands, catchphrases, etc. It's a kind of 体言止め. This is a short briefing, right?
    – naruto
    Commented Aug 10, 2018 at 12:54
  • Ah yeah. It fits then. Same for the 確認 at the beginning I guess. It's not confirmation but more, let's confirm, let's go over the plan. Commented Aug 11, 2018 at 11:50

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