A: Did you ask Tom if he’s coming tonight?
B: Yeah, but he didn’t sound very sure.
A: Hmm, maybe he’s still deciding. Should we save him a seat anyway?
B: Yeah, just in case he shows up.
In this situation, what should you say ‘he didn’t sound very sure’ in Japanese?
Casual
B：あんまりはっきりしない感じだったけど
Note: This is not a word-for-word translation.
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A word-for-word translation
B：でもあまり確信がなさそうだった。
This sounds natural and can be used in this situation.
You could also use はっきりしない感じ instead of 確信がなさそう.
I think はっきりしない感じ is more common.
はっきり has roughly two meanings:
- When things are vague and unclear, making it difficult to judge or distinguish.
- When attitudes and opinions are not clearly expressed.
In this case, we use the term in meaning 2.
We also use sentences like the ones below in this situation.
まだ分かんないっぽかった
It seemed like he still didn’t know.来るかどうか分からない感じだった
It seemed like he wasn’t sure if he was coming.どうだか分からない感じだった
He seemed unsure of his plans.
These simply explain his state, but they are also common phrases used in this situation.
Kotoba no Hibiki 