Why is there past tense in そっちに行ったところです。

The sentence 「そっちに行ったところです。」 is translated as “It is down that way.” It makes sense in the lesson, but I don’t understand why the verb is in past tense - 「行った」
Thank you.

maybe a more literal translation would be “that is where (he/she) went”

That doesn’t make much sense in the given context.

Sorry for answering without reading the context. this is my last word since I am non-native nor am I highly advanced:

I think the past form in this case is more a way to distance the speaker from his proposition or to make the statement more oblique. In English the direct, factual “it is down that way” is correct, but in Japanese the more equivocal (to English speaking ears) “…if you went that way…” is used

My guess is that it is a wrong translation.

As far as I know, ところ means a “place” or, by extension, “a point, instance, or a juncture where something takes/took place”.

For example, it could be used for these different situations.

  • 食べる ところ です - I am about to eat (I am at a point where I am going to eat).
  • 食べて いる ところです - I am eating (I am in the middle of the action of eating).
  • 食べた ところ です。- I have just eaten (I am at a point where I just ate).

So, そっちに行ったところです means “I was just there” (I am at point where I have just been there and back), but the translation says “It is down that way”, which is like それは あちらです.
My conjecture is that the Japanese sentence was translated from the English “It is down that way” but somehow the translator did it like it was “I was down that way”. そっちに行ったところです fits “I was down that way” perfectly, I think.

Hopefully someone will confirm or correct me on this.

Well, on second thought, it seems the sentence could also mean “Thereabout (ところ) as you went down that way(そっちに行った)” - as dooo suggested.

If it meant that, then 行った in this case would indicate a result of an (hypothetical) action and not necessarily the past tense, similar to English present perfect (“have…” ).

So, maybe そっちに行ったところです can mean either “I was just there (and back now - past tense)” or “It is thereabout down that way” (no “coming back here” implied) depending on the context.

I am not so certain about it and curious myself but it seems the translation might just be fine.

Sorry about the confusion :slight_smile: Let’s hear the final word from someone.

He is on his way to your place.
He has left this place to visit your place.

甲乙間の電話での会話:
甲: 太郎さんはそちらにおられますか? Is Taro there?
乙: 太郎は、そっちに(そちらに)行った(向かった)ところです。No, he is not here. He is on his way to your place.
甲: それでは、こちらで待ってみます。Then I will wait for him here.
乙: もうすぐそちらに着く頃だと思います。He will arrive soon.

“行く” can mean “go” or “leave.”

「そっちに行ったところです。」
そのドアは、そちらに行ったところにあります。
そちらに行けば、そのドアがあります。
The door is at the place you reach by going forward in that direction.
If you go forward in that direction, you can see the door.

朝食を食べたら散歩に出かけましょう。
Let’s go out for a walk when we have finished breakfast.

そっちに行ったところです。
そちらに行ったところにあります。

So the first sentence is sort of a short form of the second, I suppose.
If so, it matches the translation in the lesson “It is down that way”.
In the given context it cannot mean “(someone) has already gone that way” since all of them are talking face to face in one spot.

The original question was “why past tense”, but the 行った here seems to indicate the result of a (hypothetical) action. Something like “if you go that way, it is thereabout”.

So I think the translation is good.
I had confused it with a slightly different usage of ところ, where it means a point or moment in time. Here it is just a “place”.

Thanks for the explanation :slight_smile:

“the 行った here seems to indicate the result of a (hypothetical) action.”
You are right.

“そこへ行ったらわかります” means “if you go there, you can notice.”
You can see it when you have arrived there.

Let’s start as soon as it has stopped raining.
雨が止んだら〜。