Please explain this translation. It seems odd to me

[pgoonghang]

とりあえず お知らせしておきます。

Here’s my report for now.

[Leebo]

What about it is odd?

You could also say something like “That being said, here’s my report” or “Anyway, here’s my report”

But that sentence means the same thing essentially. There’s some other issue that they’re just moving past and maybe the report is incomplete in light of that, but they’re giving it anyway.

Did you check とりあえず in a dictionary?

[omukai]

とりあえず means exactly that: for now. Means something like “for a limited time / this is a placeholder somethingsomething”

これ、とりあえずここに置いとくね “i’ll put this here for now (gonna pick it up again to put it in it’s proper place later)”

[pgoonghang]

@Leebo

What about it is odd?

The fact that I didn’t get it right the first time it came up in my flashcards.

@Leebo

But that sentence means the same thing essentially. There’s some other issue that they’re just moving past and maybe the report is incomplete in light of that, but they’re giving it anyway.

Did you check とりあえず in a dictionary?

I did look up とりあえず in a dictionary, since it was the target word for the flashcard. I knew about the “first of all; at once; right away​” definition, and now also know it can be used to mean “for now; for the time being”.

But what really threw me off was the しておきます. It looks like the て＋おく construction in which something is done in preparation for something else. And it is also in non-past form. Both of these seem odd given the English translation.

Before this thread, I would have translated it as “First of all, I will get the report ready” or something similar.

Thanks for the help.

[omukai]

～ておく is “doing something for some purpose”.

[seanblue]

I think here the ておく is implying (not surprisingly) that the report was prepared for something. So “here’s my report (in preparation for whatever you need it for)” or something like that.

[s1212z]

とりあえずビール！I believe the expression would be used in a izakaya-like setting to implicate you are starting with a beer (as an alcohol appetizer-like) followed by some stronger alcohol which is yet to be decided…or “beer for now”. This is how I remember it.

[LucasDesu]

@pgoonghang

But what really threw me off was the しておきます. It looks like the て＋おく construction in which something is done in preparation for something else. And it is also in non-past form. Both of these seem odd given the English translation.

According to this website, ～ておく has shades of meaning besides just doing something in preparation for something else. In fact it lists 4 different uses:

1. Preparations in advance (i.e., for something happening in the future, carry out relevant preparatory actions in advance)
2. Dealing with things temporarily (i.e., as a current measure, tentatively act)
3. Preserving a state (i.e., a continued state which is not tampered with and left alone)
4. Retained result (i.e., to leave behind the results of actions done previously)

The example you presented in the OP probably best relates to the second use than the first because of とりあえず. Hopefully that helps!