◇元の会話を聞いてみましょう。

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that their authorized signer is out of town.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they had already paid.

A: 彼らはまだ払ってないって？この請求書は支払い期限を60日過ぎてるぞ。彼らの今回の言い訳は何だい？
B: 署名権限のある人間が出張中だといってる。
A: 新しい言い訳だな。前回の言い訳はなんだった？
B: すでに支払い済だって言ったな。



◇表現
【overdue】
「支払い期限を過ぎた」。同義語は past due (past-due)
さらに、常用する語に outstanding（未払いの）がありますが、これは必ずしも overdue / past due になっているとは限らず、全ての未払いを含む表現です。

【They’re saying～】
「彼らが言うには」「彼らの言い分によると」

【They haven’t paid yet?】
現在完了を使って「じゃあどう対処しようか？」といった現在への影響を言外に含む表現です。今回の言い訳と前回の言い訳の内容の時制に注意が必要です。



◇代入語の言い方と意味を理解しましょう。

【they would like to return our goods 当社の商品を返品したい】
（goods 商品、品物、物品）
【they had not received our invoice 当社のインボイスを受け取っていなかった】
（過去の一時点から見た過去。）
【their customers aren’t paying them 彼らの顧客が支払いをしない】
【they were having poor cash flow キャッシュフローに問題があった】
（過去の一時点での進行形。）
【their authorized signer is out of town 彼らの署名権限のある人間が出張中】



◇代入語を入れて練習しましょう。①

元の構文
They’re saying that their authorized signer is out of town.

They’re saying that they would like to return our goods.
They’re saying that their customers aren’t paying them.
They’re saying that their authorized signer is out of town.



◇代入語を入れて練習しましょう。②

元の構文
They said that they had already paid.
（支払ったのは過去の一時点から見た過去なので、had already paid と過去完了を使っている。）

They said that they had not received our invoice.
They said that they were having poor cash flow.
They said that they had already paid.

◇代入語を入れてロールプレイ練習をしましょう。

元の会話
A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that their authorized signer is out of town.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they had already paid.

Bの男性の役になってみましょう。

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that they would like to return our goods.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they had not received our invoice.

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that their customers aren’t paying them.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they were having poor cash flow.

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that their authorized signer is out of town.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they had already paid.

Aの男性の役になってみましょう。

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that they would like to return our goods.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they had not received our invoice.

A: They haven’t paid yet? This invoice is 60 days overdue. What’s their excuse this time?
B: They’re saying that their customers aren’t paying them.
A: That’s a new one. What was their excuse last time?
B: They said that they were having poor cash flow.



◇聞こえた日本語を英語にしましょう。

この請求書は支払い期限を 60 日過ぎてるぞ。
This invoice is 60 days overdue.

彼らの今回の言い訳は何だい？
What’s their excuse this time?