Japanese with Manga

Can't give up on Tanabata with あきらめきれない

Grammar Explanation: Unable to finish with 〜きれない (Future entry)

Maruko marches off on her own with a determined look.
ちびまる子ちゃん » Volume 6 » Page 47

It’s the day before Tanabata, and Maruko needs a bamboo branch to hang her wishes on. Dad brought one home by chance last year but won’t find one this time, so she throws a tantrum. Mom tells her it makes no difference whether she has bamboo, and Dad says sometimes you can’t get what you want.

まる子(こ):
「1年(ねん)に1回(かい)の七夕(たなばた)なのにあきらめきれないよ」
“Tanabata only comes once a year. I can't just give up on it!”
「他(ほか)の友達(ともだち)はどうしてるんだろ」
“I wonder what my other friends are doing.”

Key Points

1あきらめきれない, “I can’t give up on it”
  • あきらめ is the stem of 諦(あきら)める, “to give up on”. 〜きれない says Maruko can’t bring herself to let go of it completely.
  • With feelings like this, nothing bursts out. The wish just stays, however much she’s told to drop it.
21年(ねん)に1回(かい)の七夕(たなばた)なのに
  • 1年(ねん)に1回(かい) is “once a year”. に gives the period the count applies to.
  • のに after a noun takes な: 七夕(たなばた)なのに. It shows frustration: it’s a once-a-year event, and yet she’s supposed to go without.
3どうしてるんだろ, “I wonder what they’re doing”
  • どうしてる is the casual contraction of どうしている. んだろ is んだろう with the う dropped, a way of wondering out loud.

Vocabulary

(To give up)

あきらめる is to give up on a hope or plan and accept that it won’t happen. It is also written 諦(あきら)める.

(Other)

他(ほか) means another person, thing, or place, other than the one mentioned.

(Friend)

友達(ともだち) means a friend or companion. Despite the suffix 達, it can refer to either one friend or several friends.

See Also

ちびまる子ちゃん © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.