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Let’s learn Japanese with Eren’s quote from Attack on Titan (進撃の巨人, Shingeki no Kyojin).

Video

Eren’s Quote

Japanese: 俺は進み続ける…敵を駆逐するまで。
Romaji: ore wa susumi tsuzukeru… teki o kuchiku suru made.
English: I’ll keep moving forward… until I destroy my enemies.

Analysis

俺は進み続ける (Main Clause)

俺 is the pronoun meaning “I or me” used in casual male speech.

The は particle shows the preceding word 俺 is the topic of the sentence.

進み is the stem of the verb masu-form 進みます meaning “to move forward” and 続ける means “to continue”. The stem of a verb masu-form followed by 続ける means “keep doing something” so 進み続ける means “keep moving forward”.

敵を駆逐するまで (Subordinate Clause)

敵 means “enemy”.

The を particle indicates the direct object of the following verb.

And the following verb is 駆逐する meaning “to destroy” or “exterminate”, so 敵を駆逐する means “destroy enemies”.

まで is the particle meaning “up to, till, until”. When it follows a verb dictionary-form, it means “until one does something”, so 駆逐するまで means “until I destroy”.

Japanese sentences usually have the main clause in the latter so it’s supposed to be 敵を駆逐するまで俺は進み続ける, but he inverted the clauses to make the subordinate clause stand out.

Examples

Verb Masu Stem + 続ける (keep …ing)

雨あめが降ふり始はじめても、走はしり続つづけた。

ame ga furi hajimetemo, hashiri tsuzuketa.

Even when it started raining, I kept running.

携帯けいたいの画面がめんを見続みつづけると目めに良よくないよ。

keitai no gamen o mi tsuzukeru to me ni yokunai yo.

It’s not good for your eyes to keep looking at mobile screens.

何歳なんさいになっても挑戦ちょうせんし続つづけたい。

nansai ni nattemo chōsen shi tsuzuketai.

No matter how old I am, I want to keep challenging.

Verb Dictionary-Form + まで (until one does something)

私わたしが眠ねむりに落おちるまでそばにいて。

watashi ga nemuri ni ochiru made soba ni ite.

Stay with me until I fall asleep.

声こえを聞きくまで、誰だれだかわからなかった。

koe o kiku made, dare daka wakaranakatta.

Until I heard your voice, I didn’t notice who it was.

晩ばんご飯はんができるまでゲームしていい？

bangohan ga dekiru made gēmu shite ii?

Can I play games until dinner is ready?

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