Japanese with Manga

A cat's natural instinct with 本能

Kanji Explanation: Ability and capability with 能

Manga panel from 三ツ星カラーズ showing example of A cat's natural instinct with 本能.
三ツ星カラーズ » Volume 7 » Page 20

Yui and her friends are in their secret base when a pigeon flies in and lands on the table between them. The group’s cat, Colonel Monochrome, leaps after it, but the pigeon escapes.

結衣(ゆい):
「ビックリしたー」
“That surprised me!”
琴葉(ことは):
「大佐(たいさ)が本能(ほんのう)をむき出(だ)しにしたな」
“The Colonel laid bare his instincts.”
Literal: “The Colonel exposed his instincts, didn't he?”

Key Points

1本能(ほんのう) is instinct: an inborn ability or drive
  • 本能(ほんのう) combines 本, “original/basic”, with 能, “ability”.
2むき出しにした means exposed openly
  • The Colonel’s instinct is described as laid bare when it leaps after the bird.
  • The phrase makes the reaction sound raw and animal-like.
3The verb phrase has an object marker
  • 本能(ほんのう)を marks instinct as what the cat exposed.
  • That makes the word the object of the action, not the actor.

Vocabulary

(Colonel)

大佐(たいさ) means colonel, the highest of the three common 佐 officer ranks.

(Instinct)

本能(ほんのう) means instinct, an inborn impulse that drives behavior without conscious thought or learning.

See Also

三ツ星カラーズ © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.