Dialogue 1: うわさ話

S1: 聞きました？　よしださんのむすめさん、離婚(りこん)したそうですよ。 Ｔ1: そうなんですか。先月、結婚したって聞きましたけど、どうしたんでしょうね。 S2: ご主人はずいぶん年上(としうえ)だったそうですよ。 T2: そうですか。じゃ、やっぱりうまくいかなかったんでしょうね。

Translation

S1:	Did you hear? I heard that Yoshida’s daughter got divorced.
Ｔ1:	Really? I heard that she got married just last month. I wonder what happened.
S2:	I heard that her husband was quite a bit older than she was.
T2:	I see. Then I guess things didn’t work out after all.

Cultural Note

1.

やっぱり やっぱり is a very common conversational expression. It is often translated as “as expected,” “just as I thought,” or “after all.” It is used when something confirms what the speaker had already thought, suspected, or expected. For example: A: 田中さん、来ないそうですよ。　I heard Tanaka isn’t coming. B: やっぱり。いそがしいって言ってたから。 I thought so. He said he was busy. やっぱり is also frequently used when the speaker changes a decision and returns to an earlier choice: コーヒーにしようかな。……やっぱり、お茶(ちゃ)にします。 Maybe I’ll have coffee. … Actually, I’ll have tea after all. Because やっぱり often refers to something already in the speaker’s mind, its exact English translation depends on the context. In casual conversation, it can even stand alone as やっぱり！ (“I knew it!” / “Just as I thought!”).