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As the question states, I'm trying to translate “They mistakenly charged both the school and me for the same thing.”

According to this link (https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/%E5%90%8C%E3%81%98%E4%BA%8B), “The same thing” can be translated as 「同じ事」.

Also, according to this link (https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/charge), the example “He always charges me too much for his goods,” can be translated as 「彼はいつも品物に対し高すぎる値段を請求する」. That example seems to come pretty close to my question.

However, I am stumped with “Both the school and me”. I've looked at the different translations for “Both” and “And”, but they don't seem to cover the situation I have.

Do you know a good way to translate it?

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2 Answers 2

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You could say...

(rather literally) 「（[Company]が、）[同]{おな}じものに[対]{たい}して、｛[誤]{あやま}って or [間違]{まちが}って｝[学校]{がっこう}と[私]{わたし}の[両方]{りょうほう}に[請求]{せいきゅう}(を)してきた。」

or...

(a bit more naturally) 「[手違]{てちが}いで、[学校]{がっこう}と[私]{わたし}の[両方]{りょうほう}に[同]{おな}じものに[対]{たい}する[請求]{せいきゅう}が｛来た or あった}。」

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  • Would you please be kind enough to explain if 両方 can only be used for two things or it can be used for any number of things? In other words, would something like this be acceptable: 「～学校と私と両親の両方に～」?
    – G-Cam
    Apr 18, 2018 at 13:38
  • I've only ever heard it used to mean literally "both," but ironically in your example it could feasibly work because you could interpret it to mean "and both of my parents."
    – vel
    Apr 18, 2018 at 21:03
  • @Chocolate: Okay, this seems to be a better translation of the sentence. But I have a couple questions. First, is the comma optional? Second, what differences, if any, are there between 請求が来た or 請求があった?
    – Micheal Gignac
    Apr 19, 2018 at 0:23
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    @G-Cam 両方 is for two things ("both"). (両側, 両者, 両国, 両腕, どちら(に)も... なども２つです) For three or more you'd use 全～, 全部, 全員, 全て, どれ(に)も, 誰(に)も etc ("all").
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 19, 2018 at 1:14
  • @MichealGignac 1) Yes, both of these sentences would look equally fine with or without the comma. 2) I don't see much difference between them in this context. 請求が来た is literally like "bill/demand came/was sent (to me)" -> "I was charged", and 請求があった "There was bill/demand" / "I had/received bill/demand" -> "I was charged"... (請求された might have a slight nuance that you suffered/ were annoyed..)
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 19, 2018 at 1:44
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誤って同じ事に、私も学校も請求されてしまいました。

(Substitute 事 with 物, サービス, or whatever suits your situation best).

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  • Hey, thanks! I wasn't entirely sure if ...も...も was appropriate in this case.
    – Micheal Gignac
    Apr 17, 2018 at 21:44
  • @MichealGignac Yes, I think you could use ～も～も too, like 「手違いで、私にも学校にも同じものに対する請求が来た。」
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 19, 2018 at 2:17

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