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I found several から quite confusing for me.

The context is about a boy and a girl, and she's trying to ask him out, but she eventually can't do so, and asks him to meet the next day:

Girl: あ…明日も会ってくれる？

Boy: やっぱ俺から言うか --> Why から is used instead of は/が ?

Girl: あ…明日は言うから --> Which use has から here?

Boy: ああ　いいよ。でも、その前に　俺から...... --> Why から is used instead of は/が ? Which are the omitted words?

Girl: 本当に？会ってくれるの？

(This conversation is from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7xM_NVn5Vc from 3:02 till 3:25)

Thank you so much in advance! I really appreciate your help!

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  • 1
    Any chance you could post more of the context or linking the source? It'd be particularly useful in explaining the last line. – vel Apr 23 '18 at 19:39
  • These aren't all the same から, but this may be relevant: lit.kobe-u.ac.jp/linguistics/sells-postconf-ho.pdf – snailcar♦ Apr 23 '18 at 22:00
  • ビデオ見れません・・・　"This video contains content from BandaiChannel, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds."だって・・ – Chocolate♦ Apr 24 '18 at 1:30
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Without further context it is hard to say whether my answer is completely correct, but considering the anime's theme, I'm pretty sure I got the right idea.

Am I correct in assuming they are both trying to confess their love to each other? If that is the case then both of the から used by the boy are the same, and indicate a direction from which something will be said (in this case, a confession of love from his behalf). A common anime trope is to wait for the other person to confess their love first, but as he doubts she will ever do this, he resigns, saying that it will have to come from (から) him.

The girl's use of から is a bit more obscure without further context, but as she explains on her dialogue immediately following what you posted, she seems to have "forgotten" what she was gonna say. Therefore, she is requesting they meet up tomorrow, saying she wants to do so because (から) she will certainly say it tomorrow [what it is she forgot].

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  • Thanks a lot! Now I see clearly the uses of から, but just some questions: the boy says kara instead of は/が just to emphasize the direction of the action, but you could also use は/が instead of から and it would mean the same, wouldn't it? A lot of actions have a direction from someone to somebody else, so in which cases would から be better than は/が? If you use から、would the topic marker は/が be hidden anywhere? (Sorry for my insistence...) – Rick Apr 24 '18 at 12:31
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I think the previous answer is mostly correct. To explain about the girl's use of から a bit more, with her use of から saying "will you meet me tomorrow? .... (Because) I will say it tomorrow" - so から indicates that "I will say it tomorrow" is the reason why she is asking to meet up. So in English a less awkward way to say this might be:

"Will you meet with me tomorrow? Cuz I'll tell you then" Or "I'll tell you tomorrow, so will you meet with me then?"

から can also be used to "soften" the end of a sentence. It makes it more approachable or amiable in a way, in some contexts. Sort of like how some people add "lol" at the end of every sentence when they text, not because they think something's funny but to convey that they are not using a cold, bored, or upset tone.

Another way to think about her response is to think of English/your native language. This doesn't always work, but for this situation I think it might help. In this case, if she was speaking casually in English she may say something like: "I'll say it tomorrow so..."

While not grammatically a full sentence in English, native speakers often talk this way. It would not be unnatural for someone feeling shy and awkward to trail off at the end of this sentence.

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