不動産屋さんに行って、母の家の契約に付き添いました

[theseus_]

Context：
その後は母と不動産屋さんに行って、母の家の契約に付き添いました。そこでこの10月までに実家を引き払うことが決まりました。家族みんなで長く住んでいたので少し寂しいです。

Does "~に" in "契約に付き添いました" means "purpose"? And does the phrase literally means the author accompanied (her mother) for the contract?

Doesn't the author reveal anything about the contract? Like the sale or expiration of the lease? Or is the author hinting at something between the lines?

 

[KLAUSED]

母の家の契約に付き添いました＝母が家の契約をするのに付き添いました

There's no way of knowing for sure what kind of contract they signed but I would assume they went to sign a new lease.

 

[Joschl]

I have consulted the online dictionaries on the website "広辞苑無料検索" to figure out the valency of the verb "付き添う". According to them, "([何か]を[する]為に)[誰か=母]に付き添う" is correct. But the construction like "([誰か]の)「何か」に付き添う" is also attested. See

▽通院に付き添う ▽息子の受験に付き添う Goo辞書
私は彼女の買い物に付き添う。weblio 英和・和英辞典

Doesn't the author reveal anything about the contract? Like the sale or expiration of the lease? Or is the author hinting at something between the lines?

Why do you think she does that? Is it important for the readers to know about the contract in detail? Don't you think she wants to tell her readers that

[...]この10月までに実家を引き払うことが決まりました。家族みんなで長く住んでいたので少し寂しいです。

 

[gengo]

その後は母と不動産屋さんに行って、母の家の契約に付き添いました。そこでこの10月までに実家を引き払うことが決まりました。家族みんなで長く住んでいたので少し寂しいです。

In case it helps, here is my translation:
After that, I went with my mom to the real estate agent's* to take care of the lease for her house. This made it official that I would move out of their** house by this October. It's kind of sad, since I've lived with my family for a long time.

* The word 不動産屋 does not easily translate to English because there is no business in the US or UK, etc., that corresponds exactly to what a 不動産屋 does. A real estate agent is usually involved only with the sale of property, so it might be better to call this a "property manager."

** I don't know if the writer's father is still alive, but I used the plural "their" to indicate that the house belongs to both her mother and her father.

My guess is that the reason they went to the 不動産屋 was to remove the writer's name from the lease, since she will be moving out. My translation reflects that assumption.

 

[SoLaTiDoberman]

According to the background and context of her long diary so far, I guess that her father had moved out the house.
Her parents also have devorced, I guess, or at least lived seperately.
She will move out again. (the first time was her marrage with her ex-husband, and she started to live with her mother, but she again moved out from her partent's house.)
The house, that used to be for three family members, has become too large for her mother only, so she (mother) will move out to a smaller house.
As a result, the used-to-be their family house will be for rental for somebody else in October. This is my assumption/interpretation.

The diary is not clearly written, and so confusing, because it is her personal diary.
She doesn't need to explain everything in detail because she knows herself well.
Someone's own diary tends to become short of words because the context is obvious to themselves, right?

Maybe the Chinese versions would explain more in detail, if she wrote them accurately.
If she wrote the Japanese versions as the translation or the help to unsderstand the Chinese versions, it would have been clearer.
But she first wrote her diary in Japanese as an ordinary way, and then translated it into Chinese, which brought about your confusion. I guess.

 

[KLAUSED]

*The word 不動産屋 does not easily translate to English because there is no business in the US or UK, etc., that corresponds exactly to what a 不動産屋 does. A real estate agent is usually involved only with the sale of property, so it might be better to call this a "property manager."

I think estate agents, as they're called in the UK, are also involved in renting. I checked out the websites of a couple of estate agents located in London and they all ask whether you're buying or renting when you search for a property.

 

[gengo]

I think estate agents, as they're called in the UK, are also involved in renting. I checked out the websites of a couple of estate agents located in London and they all ask whether you're buying or renting when you search for a property.

OK, then what I said applies only to American English.

 

[theseus_]

母の家の契約に付き添いました＝母が家の契約をするのに付き添いました

There's no way of knowing for sure what kind of contract they signed but I would assume they went to sign a new lease.

I have consulted the online dictionaries on the website "広辞苑無料検索" to figure out the valency of the verb "付き添う". According to them, "([何か]を[する]為に)[誰か=母]に付き添う" is correct. But the construction like "([誰か]の)「何か」に付き添う" is also attested.

Thank you all for explaining "~に付き添う".

Why do you think she does that? Is it important for the readers to know about the contract in detail? Don't you think she wants to tell her readers that

[...]この10月までに実家を引き払うことが決まりました。家族みんなで長く住んでいたので少し寂しいです。

And thanks for reminding me of the real focus of this context.

In case it helps, here is my translation:
After that, I went with my mom to the real estate agent's* to take care of the lease for her house. This made it official that I would move out of their** house by this October. It's kind of sad, since I've lived with my family for a long time.

This translation is very helpful for me, thank you.

According to the background and context of her long diary so far, I guess that her father had moved out the house.
Her parents also have devorced, I guess, or at least lived seperately.
She will move out again. (the first time was her marrage with her ex-husband, and she started to live with her mother, but she again moved out from her partent's house.)
The house, that used to be for three family members, has become too large for her mother only, so she (mother) will move out to a smaller house.
As a result, the used-to-be their family house will be for rental for somebody else in October. This is my assumption/interpretation.

Thank you very much for this background analysis, especially the speculation about the author's parents' situation, which helped me understand more about the events described in some of the earlier diaries.

Maybe the Chinese versions would explain more in detail, if she wrote them accurately.
If she wrote the Japanese versions as the translation or the help to unsderstand the Chinese versions, it would have been clearer.
But she first wrote her diary in Japanese as an ordinary way, and then translated it into Chinese, which brought about your confusion. I guess.

It's true that some Chinese versions of the diaries have a few extra details, but unfortunately this one does not.