Japanese with Manga

Growing in many ways with 成長

Kanji Explanation: Becoming and accomplishing with 成

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:
「私(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私(わたし)だって and の add a defensive insistence
  • 私(わたし)だって means “even I” or “me too”, pushing back against being underestimated.
  • The sentence-final の adds emphasis, like she is insisting that her claim should be taken seriously.

Vocabulary

(I)

私(わたし) means “I” or “me”. It is the standard first-person pronoun in polite speech and is also common in casual speech among women.

(Growth)

成長(せいちょう) means growth. It can describe a living thing becoming larger or a person, skill, or organization developing.

See Also

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