Let’s learn Japanese with Mamoru Endo’s quote from Inazuma Eleven.
CONTENTS
Video
Mamoru Endo’s Quote
Japanese: サッカーやろうぜ！
Romaji: sakkā yarō ze!
English: Let’s play soccer!
Analysis
サッカー means “soccer”. Sports in Japanese are mostly named using katakana as many of them are imported from other countries. For example, テニス (tennis), ゴルフ (golf), バレーボール (volleyball), バスケットボール (basketball), ラグビー (rugby), バドミントン (badminton) and so on. On the other hand, Sports of Japanese origin are named using Kanji such as 空手 (karate), 柔道 (judo), 剣道 (kendo), 弓道 (kyudo), 合気道 (aikido), 相撲 (sumo) and so on. There are also sports which are imported from other countries but the name in kanji has become more common such as 野球 (baseball) and 卓球 (table tennis).
やろう is the volitional form of やる meaning “to do”. So サッカーやろう means “let’s play soccer”. You can also say サッカーしよう which is the volitional form of する but やろう sounds more rough and casual. The direct object particle を is omitted which often happens in casual speech.
ぜ is the sentence ending particle used towards equals or inferiors in male speech. It’s used when you want to emphasise or make sure of something in a friendly way, or when you simply want to sound cool and manly. When it’s used with a verb volitional form, it sounds more encouraging. Although, you rarely hear it in real conversations as it sounds a bit too rough or too masculine.
Examples
Sports + やる (to play …)
一緒にテニスやらない？
issho ni tenisu yaranai?
Why don’t we play tennis together?
学生時代、柔道をやっていた。
gakusei jidai, jūdō o yatte ita.
I was doing Judo when I was a student.
野球やってる男子高校生はだいたい坊主頭だ。
yakyū yatteru danshi kōkōsei wa daitai bōzuatama da.
Male high school students who are playing baseball mostly have a shaved head.
Sentence Ending Particle ぜ (emphasises/makes sure of something in a friendly way, makes your speech sound cool and manly)
ポケモン全部ゲットだぜ！
pokemon zenbu getto da ze!
I got all the Pokémons!
おい、もう帰るぜ！
oi, mō kaeru ze!
Hey, we are going home now!
この学校で一番強い男は俺だぜ！
kono gakkō de ichiban tsuyoi otoko wa ore da ze!
The strongest man in this school is me!
Difference between ぜ and ぞ:
- ぜ – indirectly making objective claims being laid-back
- ぞ – directly making one-sided subjective claims being tense (cannot be used with a verb volitional form)
気をつけるんだぜ。 – Be careful, yeah? (You know what I mean, right?)
気をつけるんだぞ。 – Be careful, okay?! (You have to understand!)
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