Japanese by Example
Learning through examples in manga

レンタルおにいちゃん Reading Guide

Series Page » Pages List

This is an experimental page to show a break down of dialogue from the first chapter of a manga series.

Volume 1 Page 3

おんな:
(off-screen)
ちゃん
big brother
Big Brother...
  • にいちゃん is a term used by young children to refer to their older brother.
  • The ・ appearing over the letters に and い are used to emphasize the use of hiragana letters, rather than the kanji 兄. The reason for this distinction is made clear later in the chapter.
おんな:
あれ
that
Over there.
  • あれ is a pronoun used to indicate something which is away from both the speaker and the listener. If the item being indicated is near the speaker, これ (this) is used. If the item being indicated is near the listener, それ (that) is used.
にいさん:
ぬいぐるみ
stuffed animals
 
Stuffed animal?
The stuffed animals?
  • In Japanese, there is no distinction between a definite article (the) and an indefinite article (a). Likewise, in most cases, there is no distinction between one or many. The big brother's dialogue could also be translated as "A stuffed animal?"
おんな:
ほ…
(stammer)
ほしい
desirable
It is desirable.
I want one.
  • ほしい is an adjective that denotes something as being desirable (wanted). Unlike the English verb "to want", wherein wanting is an action of a human (or other animate) subject, in Japanese the desired item is the subject, with the adjective ほしい describing it as desirable. In English, it is proper to say "I want a stuffed animal", where in Japanese it would be "For me, a stuffed animal is desirable."
  • An adjective ending in い does not require a copula (such as だ) to be added. Because the subject is known by context (a stuffed animal),