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I'm having difficulty translating this particular sentence into English, and
even thus understanding it fully.

> 私は成田空港で **外国でも** 使えるけいたい電話を借りて **来た** から、問題がないよ。

My best attempt at a translation:

> I had a problem at Narita Airport because I had to rent a mobile phone to
> use.

I don't know how to translate the 外国でも bit and have it make sense nor am I
sure about translating the 来た either.
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2014-03-16T21:06:22.773
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2015-11-18T15:02:55.740
2015-11-18T14:52:43.043
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question
translation particles verbs
Understanding 外国でも使える電話を借りて来た
Let me see if I can address these one at a time:

  1. > 私は成田空港で [ **外国でも使える 携帯電話** ] を 借りてきたから、問題がないよ。

The relative clause 外国でも使える is modifying 携帯電話, so 外国でも使える携帯電話 means "a cell
phone that can be used even overseas".

  2. > 私は成田空港で外国でも使える携帯電話を **借りてきた** から、問題がないよ。

借りてきた means "borrowed", but since money was probably exchanged for the phone,
I think "rented" is probably a better translation in this case.

  3. > 私は成田空港で外国でも使える携帯電話を借りてきたから、 **問題がない** よ。

Did you notice the negative in 問題がない? It means "had no problem", not "had a
problem".

Here's my attempt at a loose translation:

> I rented a phone that works overseas at Narita Airport, so there's no
> problem.
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2014-03-16T21:42:36.783
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answer
You already have a great answer, but to clarify the points you asked about,
外国でも should be interpreted as

> 外国で + も

where 外国で使える means "able to use in a foreign country", i.e. "works abroad". も
is "also", so that 外国でも使える means "also works abroad".

As I wrote in my comment, ～てきた is used both metaphorically and literally. In
this case, it is used literally and 借りて来た means "I borrowed and came", i.e.
"borrowed before I came", or here

> (Before I came,) I rented a mobile phone, which also works abroad, at Narita
> Airport, so there's no problem.

The English translation is a bit cumbersome, but such is the nature of literal
translations.

_Edit_. A different translation (partly due to snailboat) could be

> I went and got a rental phone which also works abroad at Narita Airport, so
> there is no problem.
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answer