Analysis of Manga

Let’s learn Japanese with our analysis of manga. We will analyse a manga snippet from Yotsubato! (よつばと!) Volume 6.

CONTENTS

Manga Snippet
Sentences
Analysis of Manga
Examples

Manga Snippet

©よつばと! (電撃コミックス)

Sentences

Mouseover (tap on a smartphone/tablet) to reveal the censored romaji and English translation.

そっか食べちゃったかー
sokka tabechatta kā
I see. You ate it!
あはははは
ahahahaha
Ahahahaha.
たべちゃった
tabechatta
I ate it.
おいしかった？
oishikatta?
Was it tasty?
おいしかった！
oishikatta!
It was tasty!
とろけてた
toroketeta
It was melting
じゃあお父さん知ったらがっかりするねー
jā otōsan shittara gakkari suru nē
Then your dad will be disappointed when he finds out, won’t he?
ネクタイかっこいいねー
nekutai kakkoii nē
Cool tie, isn’t it.
とーちゃんがっかりする？
tōchan gakkari suru?
Daddy will be disappointed?
するわよー
suru wa yō
Sure he will.
そんなおいしいのがなくなってるんだからー
sonna oishii no ga nakunatteru ndakarā
Since something that tasty disappeared.
なんでお父さんのも食べちゃったの？
nande otōsan no mo tabechatta no?
Why did you eat your dad’s too?
こどもってくいしんぼうだから…
kodomo tte kuishinbō dakara…
Because children are gluttons…

「そっか食たべちゃったかー」
- そっか (expression) – I see, right
- 食べ (verb) – eat
- ちゃった (auxiliary) – used to make the action sound unfavourable/unintentional EXAMPLES
- か (particle) – expresses that you are impressed, surprised, moved, etc.
「あはははは」
- あはははは – laughing loudly
「たべちゃった」
- たべ (verb) – eat
- ちゃった (auxiliary) – used to make the action sound unfavourable/unintentional
「おいしかった？」
- おいしかった (i-adjective) – was tasty (when it is a question, the intonation of た goes up)
「おいしかった！」
- おいしかった (i-adjective) – was tasty
「とろけてた」
- とろけてた (verb) – was melting EXAMPLES
「じゃあお父とうさん知しったらがっかりするねー」
- じゃあ (conjunction) – then, well then
- お父さん (noun) – dad
- 知った (verb) – get to know, find out
- ら (auxiliary) – if, when (following verb ta-form)
- がっかりする (verb) – be disappointed
- ね (particle) – indicates request for confirmation/agreement; won’t he?
「ネクタイかっこいいねー」
- ネクタイ (noun) – tie
- かっこいい (i-adjective) – cool, good looking
- ね (particle) – indicates request for confirmation/agreement; isn’t it?
「とーちゃんがっかりする？」
- とーちゃん (noun) – daddy
- がっかりする (verb) – be disappointed (when it is a question, the intonation of る goes up)
「するわよー」
- する (verb) – will do
- わ (particle) – adds feminine flavour to the sentence
- よ (particle) – used to make the listener aware of the information EXAMPLES
「そんなおいしいのがなくなってるんだからー」
- そんな (na-adjective) – such, that kind of
- おいしい (i-adjective) – tasty, delicious
- の (particle) – makes an adjective into a noun; one, thing
- が (particle) – indicates subject
- なくなってる (verb) – has disappeared, be gone
- んだ – used to make a sentence into an explanation
- から (particle) – because, since (following a clause)
「なんでお父とうさんのも食たべちゃったの？」
- なんで (adverb) – why
- お父さん (noun) – dad
- の (particle) – indicates possession
- も (particle) – too, also
- 食べ (verb) – eat
- ちゃった (auxiliary) – used to make the action sound unfavourable/unintentional
- の (particle) – indicates question
「こどもってくいしんぼうだから…」
- こども (noun) – children
- って (particle) – indicates sentence topic in colloquial speech EXAMPLES
- くいしんぼう (noun) – glutton
- だ (particle) – makes a sentence declarative (attached to a noun or na-adjective)
- から (particle) – because, since (following a clause)

Examples

Verb + ちゃう/ちゃった (do/did something unfavourable unintentionally)

昨日きのう飲のみすぎちゃった。

kinō nomi sugi chatta.

I drank too much yesterday.

お腹なかが空すいてると、ついイライラしちゃう。

onaka ga suiteru to, tsui iraira shi chau.

When I’m hungry, I get irritated unintentionally.

NOTE

It is the casual and colloquial form of verb te-form + しまう. When its te-form ends in で, it is contracted to じゃう.

食たべてしまう → 食たべちゃう
飲のんでしまう → 飲のんじゃう

Suggested Analysis with ちゃう

Analysis of Manga – Yotsubato! #4

とろける vs とける (melt)

このトロの刺身さしみ、口くちの中なかでとろける〜！

kono toro no sashimi, kuchi no naka de torokerū!

This toro (fatty tuna) sashimi melts in my mouth!

アイスクリームは溶とけちゃうから、すぐ冷凍庫れいとうこに入いれて。

aisu kurīmu wa toke chau kara, sugu reitōko ni irete.

Ice cream will melt so put it in the freezer quickly.

NOTE

The difference between とろける and とける:

とろける – mainly used for food which melts in heat such as in the mouth or oven (e.g. raw fish, meat, cheese, etc) often to express its deliciousness
とける – used for food which melts at room temperature (e.g. ice, ice cream, etc)

よ (used to make the listener aware of the information)

わたし、明日あしたからダイエットするよ！

watashi, ashita kara daietto suru yo!

I will go on a diet from tomorrow!

大丈夫だいじょうぶ、なんとかなるよ！

daijōbu, nantoka naru yo!

No worries, everything will be ok!

Suggested Analysis with ね

Analysis of Manga – Yotsubato! #2

って (indicates sentence topic in colloquial speech)

あの人ひとって、ちょっと変かわってるね。

ano hito tte, chotto kawatteru ne.

That person is a bit weird, isn’t he?

恐竜きょうりゅうって、なんで絶滅ぜつめつしたの？

kyōryū tte nande zetsumetsu shita no?

Why did dinosaurs go extinct?

NOTE

When it is used to indicate sentence topic, it can be replaced with the topic particle は. But as って has the nuance of “speaking of”, it is often used when the speaker brings up a new topic or wants to emphasise the topic. So って usually cannot be used when the topic has already been mentioned.

A: 図書館としょかんって近ちかくにありますか？ (Is there a library nearby?)

B: ✖︎ 図書館としょかんって近ちかくにありますよ。✔︎ 図書館としょかんは近ちかくにありますよ。(There is a library nearby)

However, it can be used for emphasis even after the topic has been mentioned.

A: Mr.マリックって知しってる？ (Do you know Mr. Maric?)

B: Mr.マリックって、あの有名ゆうめいなマジシャンでしょ？もちろん知しってるよ！ (Are you talking about MR. MARIC, that famous magician? Of course I know!)

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