HI, I need help with this sentence

[bob3264]

久しぶりに新しいPCを買われたそうで、おめでとうございます


I need help with understanding the 買われたそうで　form.

I originally wrote やっと、新しいPCを買ってきっておめでとうございます and a Japanese native speaker corrected it the above sentence.

Thank you.


EDIT: I also need help with this part of the sentence:

７年落ちのPCから現在のハイパワーPCに乗り換え（買い替え）て
Harryさんもびっくりしてるかと思いますが、羨ましいですね。

Someone corrected my Japanese to this above sentence. I don't have the original sentence at the moment.
I'm curious about the かと思います　part.
I wanted the sentence to show that I feel like he will be surprised,with a fair degree of certainty so I"m assuming かと思います　is a poilite way to show some sense of certainty?

[mewes6190]

Hello Bob-san,

I'm just a lower intermediate myself, but I would like to try and answer your question! Take my answer with a grain of salt though, maybe 奈津子先生 will stop by later and know a better one. Or more correct one.

久しぶりに新しいPCを買われたそうで、おめでとうございます


I need help with understanding the 買われたそうで　form.

I wouldn't know about the corrections from your original sentence, but as far as I can see, this is the passive, past form of買う, so "a Computer was bought by you". But since that sounds weird, it also(!) might be the keigo-form of 買う (polite keigo forms are often done by using れる/られる. I still can't always differentiate, wether it's the keigo or passive れる/られる.
I don't know the broader context in this one, by the sentence alone, I would guess on the keigo form.
The そうで, which, I guess, would have been そうです at the end of the sentence, simply states that it seems to, or expresses some sort of view or opinion by the speaker. I always find it hard to translate the そうです, to me it always gives more of a tone. like: "So, you bought a Computer, didn't you?" something along that line.

EDIT: I also need help with this part of the sentence:

７年落ちのPCから現在のハイパワーPCに乗り換え（買い替え）て
Harryさんもびっくりしてるかと思いますが、羨ましいですね。

Someone corrected my Japanese to this above sentence. I don't have the original sentence at the moment.
I'm curious about the かと思います　part.
I wanted the sentence to show that I feel like he will be surprised,with a fair degree of certainty so I"m assuming かと思います　is a poilite way to show some sense of certainty?

A "midsentence-か" like this usually indicates a question or an uncertainty by the speaker as far as I know. So I would translate that sentence as "So, Harry-san was also surprised, I guess, but he's to be envied, isn't he?"

I'm just confused, because that's the OPPOSITE of what you wanted to say. Like, you WANTED certainty, but I read uncertainty. So, maybe I got something wrong here...

Anyway, I hope 奈津子先生 or some other smart mind will help us both.

Best
Kurokuma

[community.japanese]

Bob-san, Kurokuma-san,
kon'nichiwa

maybe 奈津子先生 will stop by later and know a better one.

And here I am

As to 新しいPCを買われたそうで part, it's a honorific expression 買われた (original verb is of course 買う).
Like Kurokuma-san wrote, passive and honorific forms take exactly the same conjugation.
In this case, the following sentence is おめでとうございます so the first part must be the reason to congratulate.
If you have more context, the writer/speaker must be using a polite form and/or speech level in
entire conversation.

かと思います would be more difficult: this is the common way to say "I bet...." or "I presume..." etc.
It's pretty much same as (こと)だろうと思います and/or ではないかと思います
～かと is often used as written language rather than spoken. If it's used in verbal conversation, it'd be very
formal and would fit much better if it's followed by 存じます instead of 思います (存じます is a humble keigo).
For example,
お忙しいかと存じますが、・・・・
ご心配されているかと・・・・

So, I'd say....
日本語は難しいかと思いますが、がんばってください。　
(Interpretation: 日本語は難しいだろうと思いますが、がんばってね。）

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[viji7839]

Thank you so much!

I understand. I will go over your reply a few more times, just to make sure I truly understand.