Japanese with Manga

Doing nothing but slack off with 〜てばっか

Grammar Explanation: Nothing but with 〜ばかり

Officer Saitou stands yawning in the doorway of the police box in front of the zoo, one hand behind his head. A caption names the police box, and speech balloons from off-panel fill both sides of the panel.
三ツ星カラーズ » Volume 4 » Page 44

Yui, Sacchan, and Kotoha are making a video to introduce the Colors and the people of their town. After filming at a few local shops, they come to the police box by the zoo, where Officer Saitou works.

「動物園(どうぶつえん)前(まえ)交番(こうばん)」
“Zoo-Front Police Box”
さっちゃん:
「あいつは斎藤(さいとう)」
“That guy is Saitou.”
「斎藤(さいとう)は私(わたし)たちのおかげで平和(へいわ)だからサボってばっかだ」
“Thanks to us, everything's peaceful, so Saitou does nothing but slack off.”
「だからたまには働(はたら)かせてやる」
“So for once, we're going to make him work.”

Key Points

1サボってばっか, nothing but slacking off
  • サボる means to slack off or skip work or class. It comes from サボ, short for サボタージュ, the French sabotage, with る added to make it a verb.
  • The て-form サボって plus ばっか says slacking off is all Saitou does. ばっか is a casual, clipped form of ばかり, and だ closes the sentence. The fuller form is サボってばかりいる.
  • The critical tone that ばかり often carries suits a complaint about a police officer doing nothing.
2私(わたし)たちのおかげで平和(へいわ)だから
  • おかげで means “thanks to” and credits someone with a good result. Sacchan says the town is peaceful thanks to the girls.
  • から makes the peace the reason for Saitou’s slacking: with nothing happening, he has nothing to do.
3働(はたら)かせてやる, we’ll make him work
  • 働(はたら)かせる is the causative of 働(はたら)く, “to work”. It means “to make someone work”.
  • 〜てやる is a rough version of 〜てあげる. Here Sacchan presents making Saitou work as a favor, the kind of favor he won’t welcome.
  • たまには means “once in a while” or “for once”. The は contrasts this time with all the slacking.
4あいつは斎藤(さいとう), introducing Saitou bluntly
  • あいつ is a rough way to say “that guy”. Using it to introduce a police officer in their video shows how little respect Sacchan has for him.
  • The sentence leaves off だ. Casual speech often drops it after a noun.

Vocabulary

(Zoo)

動物園(どうぶつえん) means a zoo, where animals are kept and displayed to the public.

(Front)

前(まえ) is the front of something. It also means an earlier time, as in 三年前, “three years ago”.

(Police box)

交番(こうばん) is a small neighborhood police station where officers are posted to watch over the area, help with directions, and take reports of lost items.

(That guy)

あいつ refers to a person who is not part of the conversation, or sometimes to a thing. It is casual and can sound rough or familiar.

(We)

私(わたし)たち means “we” or “us”. It is also written 私達(わたしたち).

(Thanks to)

おかげ is the help or influence someone or something gives. 〜のおかげ means “thanks to”. It is also written お陰(かげ).

(Peace)

平和(へいわ) means peace, without war, conflict, or disturbance.

(To slack off)

サボる means to skip work, class, or a duty, or to slack off when you should be working. It comes from サボ, short for サボタージュ (sabotage).

(Once in a while)

たまに means occasionally, not often. たまには is “once in a while” or “for once”, often for something that should happen more.

(To work)

働(はたら)く is to work at a job.

(To do)

やる is a casual word for “to do”. It also means to give something to someone of lower standing, or to animals and plants.

See Also

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