Let’s learn Japanese with Shinra Kusakabe’s quote from Fire Force (Enn Enn no Shouboutai).
CONTENTS
Video
Shinra Kusakabe’s Quote
Japanese: 俺は悪魔なんかじゃない！俺はヒーローにならなきゃならない！
Romaji: ore wa akuma nanka janai! ore wa hīrō ni naranakya naranai!
English: I am not a devil! I have to become a hero!
Analysis
俺は悪魔なんかじゃない
“Noun A は Noun B じゃない” means “Noun A is not Noun B” as the particle は indicates the topic and じゃない shows the statement is negative.
Noun A is 俺 meaning “I” which is only used by men and Noun B is 悪魔 meaning “a devil” so 俺は悪魔じゃない means “I am not a devil”.
なんか (particle) shows that one is looking down on the preceding word.
So if it’s 俺は悪魔じゃない he’s simply saying that he’s not a devil, but by adding なんか he’s also showing that he has negative feelings towards 悪魔.
俺はヒーローにならなきゃならない
俺は shows he’s going to talk about himself.
ヒーロー means “a hero”.
The に particle used with verbs that express change such as なる (to become), 変わる (to change) and so on, indicates a target of change.
A stem of the verb nai-form followed by なきゃならない means “have to do something”.
なら is the stem of ならない which is the nai-form of なる meaning “to become“, so ならなきゃならない means “have to become”.
なきゃならない is a broken version of なければならない which directly means “If one doesn’t do it, it’s no good” so it means “one has to do it”.
Examples
Noun + なんか (shows one is looking down on the preceding word)
お前なんか嫌いだ！
omae nanka kirai da!
I hate you!
わさびアイスなんか食べたくない！
wasabi aisu nanka tabetakunai!
I don’t want to eat wasabi ice cream!
ウイルスなんかに負けない！
uirusu nanka ni makenai!
I won’t lose to a virus!
なんか can also be used for something out of your reach.
グッチのバッグなんか高すぎて買えない。
gucchi no baggu nanka takasugite kaenai.
Gucci bags are too expensive to buy.
なんか is also used to show the preceding word is only an example;
何する？ – 映画なんかどう？
nani suru? – eiga nanka dō?
What are we going to do? – How about a movie or something?
Stem of Nai-Form + なきゃならない
明日7時に家を出なきゃならない。
ashita shichi-ji ni ie o de nakya naranai.
I have to leave home at 7 tomorrow.
昇進するために、私はもっと頑張らなきゃならない。
shōshin suru tame ni, watashi wa motto ganbara nakya naranai.
I have to work harder to get a promotion.
痩せるためには、一日5キロ走らなきゃならない。
yaseru tame niwa, ichi-nichi go-kiro hashira nakya naranai.
To lose weight, I have to run 5km a day.
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