Japanese with Manga

Bluish clothes with 〜っぽい

Grammar Explanation: Kind of like with 〜っぽい

Kogoro and Heiji look on as an elderly man and an elderly woman in dark clothes answer them at the wake.
名探偵コナン » Volume 28 » Page 128

Naoko has been murdered during Sumi’s wake, and Kogoro tells the islanders that the killer took her Dugong Arrow, a sacred arrow from the island’s festival. Saori is missing, and she had also said she lost her arrow, so she may have been killed too. Then an elderly woman says she saw Saori near the Mermaid Falls on the morning of the festival, and other villagers say they spotted her there as well. Heiji asks whether it was really Saori.

お爺(じい)さん:
「間違(まちが)いないよ…　茶髪(ちゃぱつ)で眼鏡(めがね)の娘(むすめ)はこの島(しま)であの子(こ)しかいないし…」
“It was her, all right... She's the only girl on this island with brown hair and glasses...”
お婆(ばあ)さん:
「沙織(さおり)ちゃんいつも青(あお)っぽい服(ふく)着(き)てるから…」
“And Saori always wears bluish clothes...”

Key Points

1青(あお)っぽい, “bluish”
  • After a color, っぽい means “-ish”. 青(あお)っぽい服(ふく) is clothes in blue tones, whatever the exact shade.
  • 青(あお)っぽい is an い-adjective, so it goes straight before 服(ふく) with no な.
  • The villagers only glimpsed the girl, some of them from a distance. A rough color is all they can give.
2Habits with いつも〜てる
  • 着(き)てる is 着(き)ている, with the い dropped in casual speech. With いつも, it describes a habit: “always wears”.
  • The を after 服(ふく) is dropped too, as often happens in casual speech.
3Piling up reasons with し and から
  • The man ends with し, which gives one reason and leaves room for more. The woman supplies another with から, “because”.
  • Both lines trail off. The point they’re leading to is the man’s first words, 間違(まちが)いないよ, “It was her, all right.”
4Only her with しか〜ない
  • あの子(こ)しかいない is “there is no one but that girl”. しか always pairs with a negative verb, here いない.

Vocabulary

(No doubt)

間違(まちが)いない says something is certain, that there’s no mistake about it.

(Brown hair)

茶髪(ちゃぱつ) is hair dyed or bleached brown, or brown hair in general.

(Glasses)

眼鏡(めがね) means glasses or spectacles worn to correct vision, protect the eyes, or as an accessory.

(Daughter)

娘(むすめ) means daughter. Depending on context, it can also mean a girl or young woman.

(This)

この means “this” or “these” and comes directly before a noun. It points to something near the speaker or something the speaker is referring to in the conversation.

(Island)

島(しま) is an island, a piece of land surrounded by water.

(That)

あの comes before a noun to mean “that” or “those”. It points to someone or something away from both speakers, or something they both know about.

(Child)

子(こ) is a child. It also means a young person or a young animal.

(Only)

しか means “only” or “nothing but”. It always pairs with a negative verb: 一(ひと)つしかない is “there’s only one.”

(To be)

いる is to exist or be somewhere, for people and animals. After a て-form verb, it shows an ongoing action or a continuing state.

(Always)

いつも describes what happens all the time, or what is normal for someone.

(Bluish)

青(あお)っぽい describes a color close to blue, with a blue tint. Said of a person, it can also mean green or inexperienced.

(-ish)

っぽい follows a word to say something seems like it or tends toward it.

(Clothes)

服(ふく) is clothes, especially Western-style clothing.

(To wear)

着(き)る is to put on or wear clothes on the upper body or whole body.

See Also

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