Could someone help me tackle a few pages from the book I'm reading?

Japanese Language Reading
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Whaddup guys. :cowboy_hat_face:

I have quite a few questions pertaining to a manga I started reading about a week or two ago. For these I’ll provide images. The image quality is terrible though so I’ll write out parts of the text for the pictures lol. I’ll probably be updating this thread later on if I have questions about the other few pages from this chapter, but I want to try my hand at tackling them myself before I do.

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冷蔵庫そうじ

こんなんが続々と出てくるわ

疲れて生活が荒れてくると

何か体にいいものを。。。

野菜とらなきゃ

体にいい野菜を

So far so good, the only parts of the language used that confuse me here would be not knowing what verb follows those を particles, as well as not really knowing what she means when she says she needs to とる 野菜??? From the images and words I can only infer she’s looking for better kinds of food to eat for her body/health, and had decided on stocking up on veggies.

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野菜かっただけで安心するの やめたい。。。

作るのは好きなんだけどな

仕事ある日はどうしても

空腹が先にきちゃって

忙しいと食べることぐらいしか楽しみがないから。。。つい。。。

Okay, so;

Which use of の is that? Explanatory? There’s also one listed that just says “emotional emphasis”, is it that one? And when she says やめたい, that part kills me because I’m not sure what she’s saying she wants to quit? Is she referring to the foods she used to eat before buying the vegetables? What kind of nuance does that な add? ちゃう/まう are a big problem for me, I understand what she’s saying, but, what does the ちゃう add to 来る? And lastly, why is ぐらい thrown in there? Why not just 食べることしか楽しみがない? And is this から to mean because? And lastly, the hell is つい???

Alright, I know this was a lot, but, this chapter has definitely included more problems then any of the other ones so far for me! :sweat_smile:

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Yeah the literal translation sounds weird but think of it as needing to eat vegetables for the vitamins and minerals. In essence she’s saying “I gotta take my vitamins!” which we can say naturally in English. Culturally, Japanese people get their vitamins from vegetables (as opposed to say, many Americans using vitamin supplements to support their diet). Anyway, you wouldn’t use とる for other foods if you’re just trying to say you need to eat them. This phrase is suggesting she’s getting something from vegetables which is why she’s “taking” them.

I’d assume 入れる like put in(to her body) works.

She buys vegetables and just doing that reassures her but she’s not actually using them so it defeats the purpose of buying them to begin with.

You ever go grocery shopping and have a whole dinner planned out, but you’re tired from shopping that you just say screw it and order fast food instead? That’s the feeling she’s capturing here. She has good intentions but she can’t get the gumption to actually do anything with the vegetables she bought and she wants to quit that bad habit.

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Thank you!

Although, I’m curious, how did you draw that conclusion for the last bit? I want to make sure I really understand, and not just take it at face value.

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野菜かっただけで安心するのやめたい
This sentence actually has an omitted を. Particles are often omitted in casual speech.
More formally it should read as
野菜かっただけで安心するの を やめたい
The の particle bundles the entire first sentence as the direct object of the verb やめる.

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Now that I’m looking at the book again, I’m feeling unsure about the third panel in that first picture.

こんなんが続々と出てくるわ いつの間に

I’m not sure what いつの間に is supposed to mean, even after looking at it in the dictionary. I also am not sure what she’s saying keeps coming up. What does こんなん refer to?

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It’s こんなの but the の is contracted due to the way the character speaks.
こんなのが続々と出てくるわ means “this one is gradually coming out” literally, but I’m not sure what that means in this context. Maybe it means that it’s ripe.

いつの間に I think translates as “meanwhile” but I’m not sure since I’ve never seen this expression. の間に means “during” and いつ means “when” but also can mean an unknown or unspecified point in time.

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Ahh, okay. That was my assertion as well, but even I’m not sure what she’s referring to! She’s holding… something. The way it’s drawn makes it hard to tell.

Edit:

Ah, now that I rethink it my assertion was different lol. I thought she meant it was literally coming out of the fridge, as in “I keep pulling this kind of thing out”.

But, I do see what you’re saying as well.

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Actually, I think you’re right.
続々 means “one after another” and not “gradually” so actually it probably means that it’s the one kind of vegetable that she keeps picking out of the fridge.

Edit: Or maybe it’s not a vegetable and that’s the problem, I probably need more context

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That’s the start of the chapter so I don’t think there’s any other context I can give, sorry. I don’t believe it to be a veggie, in the second panel it shows meats and I assumed she was saying like, “I keep pulling this kind of food out”. Referring to the fact that there is a lack of produce in the fridge.

e:

Unless you just needed more background of the books premise. Basically, single lonely woman’s life is kinda messy and she slowly starts to clean up her apartment, etc. It’s a simple manga, so I don’t think much else can be added.

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I don’t know if I can explain it very well from a grammatical point of view but I’ll try :sweat_smile:

野菜(を)買っただけで just buying vegetables
安心する is reassuring

やめたい I want to quit doing (the previous thing which is to simply reassure herself by just buying vegetables, implying she regrets rarely cooking with them at all).

If you look at the other parts:

忙しいと食べることぐらい しか楽しみがないから
When she’s busy, she only looks forward to eating (implying she’s not really putting in the effort to making a balanced meal).

作るのは好きなんだけどな
She actually enjoys cooking (hence the initial motivation to go shopping for an assortment of ingredients to begin with)

仕事ある日はどうしても
But on work days, no matter what

空腹が先にきちゃって
Her hunger just has to be taken care of first (implying she’s tired and rundown from working so feeding herself becomes a priority over healthy cooking)

Plus I also have a bit of cultural awareness on cooking and eating expectations in Japan so it’s easier for me to understand the comic’s message.

It used to be very normal for women to be housewives and cook and provide well-balanced meals for the family (especially the hardworking husband who’s constantly stressed in the workplace). This was a sign of a loving wife and mother.

Nowadays, a lot of women are also out working so expectations have slightly changed (but not entirely). A lot of Japanese people (especially single people working overtime) find it easier to go to the conbini or supermarket and take home a pre-made bento. There’s also a lot of delicious looking frozen meals you can keep for emergency.

Anyway, since these pre-made meals are very convenient, Japanese people’s diets aren’t what they used to be. This comic sort of speaks to that issue in modern Japan that since we tend to overwork ourselves in the workplace, it’s easier to feel lazy about making balanced meals for ourselves, especially when there are so many convenient options now.

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Thank you. I get it now. :smiley:

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I think you have the meaning of the sentence right, but I think the stuff she’s pulling out is a load of old half-used or unused veg (there’s a half-onion in the previous panel, for instance). This then fits with the next page or so which explains why she has all this in her fridge (buying it in a burst of good intentions and then ending up eating convenience food because she’s too exhausted to cook). Panel 2 is not exactly a photorealistic depiction of food, but given everything else I would suggest it’s half a carrot and half an onion, because: all the rest of the text is talking about veg, not meat; unwrapped loose veg is common and unwrapped loose raw meat is not; it’s much easier (less noxious) to let veg gradually go grotty in the back of the fridge than meat.

いつの間に is just kind of “when did it get like this?” – the feeling is sort of “I wasn’t paying attention for a moment and suddenly my fridge is full of manky vegetables”.

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Thank you! Y’know, I thought the whole time I was looking at a porkchop and one of those cartoon roasts! :joy: But, you’re right, that all does make more sense now.

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