English Translation
Yes, that is most certainly so.
is this translation pair correct? What role does とも play in this sentence?
@ericaw
The Japanese sentence has a connotation like this:
Wow, what a surprise! I thought that everybody knows such an obvious thing. But apparently you didn’t know of it or do have a different opinion/observation.
The interjection is more commonly spelled as えっ、with a glottal stop than え、. It suggests that the speaker faces an unexpected contradiction.
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えっ、そうです。
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えっ、そうですとも。
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えっ、そうですけど。
These three sentences sound natural, but have slightly different connotations.
とも makes the speaker’s argument a bit stronger. “Yes, that’s the truth or common sense, and nothing else” is the nuance. “Definitely/certainly” as an adverb is the meaning.
けど sounds a bit feisty. It depends on the speaker’s tone of voice and accent, but it is sometimes interpreted as “You moron. Didn’t you know such a thing? Do you have any objection to my opinion?”
Another example with とも is:
A: Would you like to participate in the next meeting? B: Yes, definitely! = もちろん、行きますとも！
Please keep in mind that とも sounds a bit old-fashioned. I don’t usually say this phrase.
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