Japanese with Manga

Don't lean out too far with 〜と

Manga panel from よつばと! showing example of Don't lean out too far with 〜と.
よつばと! » Volume 1 » Page 8

Yotsuba and her father are driving to their new home. As they pass a school letting out, Yotsuba waves to a student.

「あんまりのり()(あぶ)ないぞ」
“It's dangerous to lean out too far.”
Literal: “If you lean out too far, it's dangerous.”

Key Points

1あんまり()()す means “leaning out too far”
  • あんまり appears in many negative sentences with the meaning “not very”. Here, it modifies ()() and means “too much”.
  • () (“to get on/ride”) combines with () (“to put out”), giving ()() the sense of leaning or sticking one’s body out.
2〜と(あぶ)ない presents danger as the result
  • links leaning out too far to danger as a natural consequence.
  • Yotsuba’s father is warning her, but the grammar is not a request. cannot express the speaker’s will, so the line presents danger as the result if she leans out.
3ぞ adds force to the warning
  • is a sentence-final particle common in casual, masculine speech.
  • It makes the warning sound blunt and familiar, like “that’s dangerous, you know!”
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