It’s messy, we don’t want to make tons of sub-categories, and it belongs in Campfire. ¯\(ツ)/¯
On Page 58, 4th panel.
Yotsuba says うめえ. Is this just a casual form of うまい, like with すげえ?
Also, her dad says よつばきょうは遊びに行く時ちゃんといってきますって言えよ. What the heck is going on here? 遊びに行く時 seems like “time to go to play”, and いってきます is “I’m going out”, but why is this quoted with って言え (and what form of 言う is that), and also, what is with the ちゃんと?
(Edit: Is 言え meant to be the imperative form of 言う? )
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遊びに行く時
This is a case of Using toki in Japanese (とき) - Learn Japanese Online : “when going out to play”
ちゃんと「いってきます」って言え
Quotes added for clarity: “be sure to say ‘I’m heading out’”
The えs are what you think they are: her father slurring sounds.
All together, “Yotsuba, today, when you go out to play, be sure to say you’re heading out.”
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Yes, うめえ is the casual form of うまい.
Her dad is saying:
よつばきょうは遊びに行く時ちゃんといってきますって言えよ
よつば - Yotsuba
きょうは - today
遊びに行く時 - when you go out to play / when it’s time to go play
ちゃんと - properly
いってきます - I’m leaving / I’m going out
って言えよ - say
Yotsuba, today, when you’re going to play, properly say “I’m going out”. (Instead of leaving without notice.)
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Thanks! I was having some difficulty too. I know ちゃんと means properly/correctly which makes sense in this context.
Hey guys! I made a post in the Book Club main thread about the changing of schedule and about dividing the reading of Vol 1 by differents threads. Let’s continue the discussion there 
I’m almost finishing Chapter 1 and I’ll be able to join you guys in here soon enough! Sorry for any delays on my behalf.
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I’m having problems with the word/phrase 方. (Though I must say, this is probably just down to me being a beginner here and trying to read above my level!) But here’s my question anyway:
Page 59 - 追いかけてくる方が？
Page 59 - つよい方か？
Page 70 - のきれいじゃない方だ
In these three cases I’m pretty lost! I know 方 has something to do with direction or comparison, but I’ve no idea which. If someone could help me understand, or point me in the right direction to find out, I’d be very grateful!
However, there is one example of 方 that I do understand fully and which is a lovely bit of language, and just for fun I’ll break it down. It’s on page 79:
Page 79 - おちゃわんもつほう
おちゃわん - this is お茶碗, which, though it sounds and reads like tea cup, is actually rice bowl.
もつ - this is 持つ, to hold
ほう - this is 方, side.
よつば is explaining what she said before, that she comes from the left! The side she holds her rice bowl!
Lovely, isn’t it?!
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Comparisons – Learn Japanese is the grammar-rule in use here. In the absence of the full comparison, ほう and より assume the alternative is implied by context. This is the only case in which I’ve actually seen kanji used outside of Tae Kim, though, and it seems strange that Yotsuba knows the kanji for it, rather than just kana.
Try translating all three and share your results. It’s a good exercise to go through, especially the last one.
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Thank you so much!
And yes, I never noticed that, よつば is using kanji here! Interesting!
I will get to grips with these three sentences, but sadly that will have to wait till tonight or tomorrow as I’m off to work right now. But later I’ll study that grammar and make a big effort to understand.
But on page 70, given ふうか’s reaction, よつば must be saying “the sister that is not so cute”! Funny!
Thank you again fl0rm!
She used 手 in chapter 1. Ena’s usage, when she has more page-time, is similar in that her usage largely aligns with what an elementary student would know. It’s a nice touch and, at least to me, gives a sense of how much you’d actually need to know to communicate effectively.
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Page 59: Yotsuba’s father can’t remember the names of the neighbor girls; he and Yotsuba are trying to figure out which girl they’re talking about. Top-left panel, Yotsuba says: かみなげーきれーなの
…And I was going to ask what that なげー was all about, but I just figured it out while typing the question! This is casual/slang for ながい, “long”. She’s saying 髪長い綺麗なの, “[The one with] the long pretty hair?”
Then there’s what I think is a humorous bit… the dad’s like “Not that one,” and Yotsuba’s like “Oh, the one who’s not pretty?”
The dad’s response here is a bit tricky, but I think I’ve got it: 合ってるけど (…That fits, but…) その言う方は違うな …This would mean literally “differs from saying it like that.” I guess he means either “I wouldn’t say it that way,” or “You shouldn’t say it that way,” or maybe even “It’s wrong to say it that way.”
What do you guys think? I see the humor here regardless (Yotsuba being cheerfully tactless), but I’m not sure exactly what nuance is in the dad’s reply.
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Just saying… my new favorite Japanese word: 二度寝 (Page 62) … 
BTW, great hive mind going on right now, you guys are asking all the questions I am thinking. Awesome!
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Ooh - very possible, but I’m not positive she’s saying long hair - it could be 髪の毛?
http://japanesefile.com/Nouns/kaminoke_3.html
ETA - I also say that because in two iKnow sentence examples I’ve come across they’ve used 伸びる (stretch, extend) in reference to long hair.
http://www.japanesefile.com/Verbs/verb_nobiru_4.html
(But maybe ながい is used too…)
Okay, this is how I’m figuring out 方…
Page 59 - 追いかけてくる方が？- the one (sister) who chased me?
Page 59 - つよい方か？ - the stonger one?
Page 59 - そっちじゃない方だ - not that one.
Page 59 - きれいじゃない方か - the one who’s not cute?
Page 70 - のきれいじゃない方だ - the one who’s not cute!
方 = one
It works for me, is it correct?
Ooh - very possible, but I’m not positive she’s saying long hair - it could be 髪の毛?
I guess it could be, except that it says なげ rather than のけ… and I don’t know why it would do that. But it’s common in manga for an ending “ai” or “oi” sound to become “e”, and usually extended, like “e—”. I think that’s what happened here; ながい became なげー (just like すごい often becomes すげー).
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How the heck do you get this thing to properly quote what you’re replying to? …Anyway…
方 = one
It works for me, is it correct?
Yeah, I think this is good enough. 方 pronounced ほう means “direction,” but it’s typically used to indicate which of two alternatives you’re talking about. 魚の方がいい = The direction of fish is good = I prefer fish (rather than whatever else we were considering). But I see how you could think of this as “the fish one is good” and it makes just as much sense.
When 方 is pronounced かた, it’s either a polite pronoun for “person,” or it means “way/method”. For example, 言い方 is always いいかた and means “way/manner of speaking.”
Which pronunciation is meant isn’t always so clear, though, so I’m especially glad for the furigana on this word!
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Thank you jstrout!
- To quote, just highlight the bit you want and a “quote?” button should pop up. At least it does on my Chromebook.
- Thank you for the wonderful explanation on 方 as “direction”. Thank you so much!
- And yes, funny how 方 - ほう and 方 - かた both appear on page 59!
Thank you again so much!
Your translation is good, but I would like to clarify the conclusion a little bit just in case.
方 in here does not mean “one”, but rather just makes it a comparison. For instance,
Page 59 - つよい方か？ - the stronger one?
If you omit 方 in here, it would mean just “Strong?” and when you add 方 it becomes “Stronger?” The rest just comes from context, which is quite common in Japanese:
(The one that is) stronger?
But 方 in itself does not mean “one”.
Edit: If I wanted to say “The strong one?”, I think it would be “つよいのか？” instead, though it can depend on the context.
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Not quite, at least not in all cases, but you’re not far off. As others have alluded to, it’s like “the one that is more X”, so “the one who is furthest (of the set of sisters) from being pretty”. Its counterpart, より, is “the one that is less X”.
You’ll see this structure everywhere, and it’s often paired with a negative (or double-negative, probably for politeness reasons), so it’s a good thing for everyone to practice.
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Page 77 (paper):
よつば says 「ど〜ぞ おあがりたまえ！！おまかいですが」. I’m pretty sure this is a jumble of misused polite language, but what phrases is she trying to say and what do they mean? I know どうぞ means please and is typically used for things like asking people to accept something from you. What are the other two?
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