I’ll third saying to ask anything you’re unsure of.
Since I’m currently in insomnia mode, here are random bits from this week’s reading:
Passing by with すれちがう (Page 79)
The narration includes the line 「さっきすれちがったあの男だ」
The verb すれ違う has a few meanings (all similar in nature), but in this scene is means two people pass each close enough to touch while going in opposite directions. It combines 擦る (“to rub”) and 違う (“to differ”).
Anyone who’s owned a Nintendo DS handheld game system may be familiar with this term…or perhaps its English language counterpart, StreetPass. This feature allows two Nintendo DS-owning strangers to transfer game data simply by passing by one another.
This appears in the manga 「三ツ星カラーズ」:
For our case here, すれちがった (the “competed” or “past tense” form of the verb) is used as a modifier for 男. There are many 男 in and around the hospital, but Spitz is referring specifically to the 男 that he すれちがった. The man he passed close by going in opposite directions.
Kanji Missing from WaniKani (Page 79)
The narration mentions the man’s 松葉杖 (“crutch”). The first two kanji are covered by WaniKani, but 杖 (“cane” or “walking stick”) is not. Its radicals are the WK level 1 木 (tree) and level 15 丈 (height).
Dine-and-Dash Man (Page 80)
The culprit is referred to as 食いにげ男. Again, we have 男 being modified by a word, only this time it’s 食いにげ. This is a combination of 食う (“to eat”) and 逃げる (“to run away”). As the combination suggests, it refers to the act of leaving a restaurant without paying.
Calling Out (Page 80)
Often times you’ll encounter a series of words that are often used together, as an expression.
Here are examples of a few expressions in the English language:
- hang in there
- plain as day
- take it easy
- cold shoulder
- to be on solid ground
- out in the open
As expressions, these have meanings that are lost if you split them into individual words.
The same comes up in Japanese, such as seen here with 「声をかける」, meaning “to greet; to call out (to); to start talking (to)” (among other related things).
This expression pairs the noun 声 (“voice”) as the object of the action かける.
You’ll find かける is a fairly versatile verb:
Should and Shouldn't (Page 80)
After Spitz calls out to the bilker to stop, the narration goes that 「とまるはずはない」.
There are a few things going on in this sentence that are good to know of, although those early at learning grammar may not fully get to know them until later:
The verb 止まる means “to stop (moving)”.
When adding はず onto a verb, it means the speaker expects that the action of that verb should take place, or they are certain it will take place.
Here, 「とまるはず」 (“should stop”) is the topic of the sentence.
Japanese is a topic-prominent language, wherein sentences are typically in the topic-comment structure. That is, a topic (the thing being comment on) is established, and then a comment (about the topic) is made.
The comment made about this topic is ない. This word is essentially an adjective that describes something as lacking existence.
On the topic of “should stop”, the comment being made is “non-existent”. In other words, there doesn’t exist an expectation of the suspect stopping just because Spitz called out for him to do so.
An Unchanging State of まま
The noun まま refers to a state (or condition) which is unchanged or unchanging.
In one chapter of the manga series 「よつばと！」, the eponymous Yotsuba gets into paint without permission and ends up with her hands painted blue. After she fails to wash the paint off her hands, her father tells her the blue will never come off. Later, when questioned by a store cashier about her blue hands, Yotsuba says that her hands will always be this まま. They will always be in this state, this condition, of being blue. Forever.
Back to our case, the narration goes, 「そのまま、ボーボとエドワードのよこをすりぬけていく。」
This まま refers to the state of the suspect fleeing with no reason to stop.
By the way, similar to すれ above, here’s a すり. This time it’s すり抜ける (“to slip through; to make one’s way through quickly”).
I’m sorry I haven’t been more present personally.
And it is supringly difficult to restart when looking piles of reviews and tasks to do 
We benefit from explaining things as it increases our own understanding, so it’s not an imposition at all!
