Growing in many ways with 成長

Manga panel from あしたは土曜日 showing example of Growing in many ways with 成長.
あしたは土曜日 » Volume 春・夏 » Page 36

Mina buys a can of coffee, even though she’s bad at bitter drinks. When her friends question her, she says she’s grown up a bit and should be able to drink it.

サナエ:
「どのへんが大人(おとな)になったのよ。」
“What part of you has grown up?”
ミナ:
(わたし)だっていろいろ成長(せいちょう)してるの!」
“I've grown in lots of ways!”
Literal: “Even I have grown in various ways!”

Key Points

1成長(せいちょう) is broad growth or development
  • 成長(せいちょう) can refer to emotional, personal, or practical growth, not just getting physically bigger.
  • That broader meaning fits this teasing conversation about acting more grown-up.
2いろいろ成長(せいちょう)してる means I have grown in various ways
  • 〜してる is the spoken form of 〜している, giving a present result-state meaning.
  • Mina is claiming that her development is already visible now.
3(わたし)だって and の add a defensive insistence
  • (わたし)だって means “even I” or “me too”, pushing back against being underestimated.
  • The sentence-final adds emphasis, like she is insisting that her claim should be taken seriously.

Vocabulary

(Growth)

成長(せいちょう) refers to the process by which living organisms develop and increase in size, or to the development of things or abilities, resulting in an increase in scale or momentum.

あしたは土曜日 © its respective creators. It is used here for educational commentary.