Random Japanese Phrases3 / やっぱり

Today, I'm going to write about a pretty convenient word for Japanese learners.
It is “やっぱり”. If you use the word at will, your Japanese will sound more natural.
It has various meanings, and it's hard to translate it into English. That's why I'll give you some examples so you can understand it more.

☆Example 1: “I knew it.” or “That's what I thought.”

あなた 「さっきの問題の答えは２番だよね？」
友達 「たぶんそうだよ。」
あなた 「やっぱり！」
You: "The correct answer of that question is number 2, isn't it?”
Friend: “Yes, it should be so.”
You: “I knew it!” or “That's what I expected!”

You can also use it in this way, in other situation:
「雨降ってきた。やっぱり天気予報当たったね。」
“It started raining. The weather forecast cast was right. ”

It's used in a situation where you find out that your, or someone else's guess, was correct.

☆Example 2: “On second thought,”

・レストランにて
あなた 「このパスタください。」
ウェイター「かしこまりました。」
あなた　「やっぱり、こっちのパスタにしてもいいですか？」　
You: “Can I have this pasta, please?”
Waiter: “Sure.”
You : ”On my second thought, can I have that one instead?”

You can use it to change what you had decided before. It sounds natural if you add this phrase at the start of the sentence in situations like this.

☆Example 3
・友達と居酒屋にて
あなた「乾杯！　やっぱり、仕事終わりのビールは最高！」
You : “Cheers! A glass of beer after work really hits the spot!”
(In this situation, you wouldn't say “I knew it(or that's what I thought), a glass of beer really hits the spot!”, would you? ) うん、言わないね。多分、「Cheers! A beer after work really hits the spot」まだは「A beer after work is just what I needed!」と言う。もっと明確な英訳は「Ah! Just as I thought! A beer after work is just what I needed!」ですね。

・ペットショップにて
「どの動物も可愛いけど、やっぱり猫が一番いい！」
“I like all animals, but out of all of them, I love cats the best!” 

I can't come up with good equivalent in English in the situation in example 3.
In those situations, “やっぱり” means that there are other choices or options you can take, but it's the best one.

In the end, it's just one thing to say.
All examples so far are all used in casual situations. That's why, when you want to use this expression in formal ones, like business meetings, you'll want to use ”やはり” instead of "やっぱり". I mean, "やはり" is used with keigo.

I hope it helped you :) I'm happy for you to comment on it or correct it.
Let me know if you have any questions, anytime!

Thank you so much for this, Ryo. I feel that "やっぱり" has always been a word that I never quite understood. You've helped me a lot. :]