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While translating a book I come across the following sentence.

女の子の注意を逸{そ}らすことができれば.....

Research into the ba ending allowed me to discover that the above is a 'unfinished' sentence. This in turn made me wonder, what are the various 'unuttered' phrases or sentences that Japanese omit in everyday conversation and/or narration, like the above statement?

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    You just have to figure it out through experience, deduction, and the surrounding context. Your link clearly shows the context that should lead you to an easy answer regarding the nature of the 'unuttered' clause. This is the same with any language, therefore I'm voting to close this question due to lack of pertinence to the Japanese language in particular. – BJCUAI Sep 2 at 6:35
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it does not specifically pertain to the Japanese language. – BJCUAI Sep 2 at 6:36
  • A possible answer. japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30586/… – JACK Sep 2 at 14:40
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    @Toyu_Frey One could translate the unfinished portion to 'I can strike first', 'it would give me the advantage', 'I can make it through this alive', etc.. The only thing we can be relatively sure about, from the context, is that it would be something the protagonist would benefit from. Asking, however, for a way to figure out unfinished sentences by yourself, increased exposure to the language is the best way. Look for more information, like this and other examples.. – BJCUAI Sep 2 at 22:46
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    @Toyu_Frey Also, there's no need to apologize, as most every Japanese learner has eventually had to grapple with this issue and eventually overcome it. Hang in there ;) – BJCUAI Sep 2 at 22:48

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