Keeping my dad company with 相手
Kanji Explanation: Mutuality and appearance with 相
Akari encounters an older gentleman looking for a police box, so he can report his missing daughter and son-in-law. Akari offers to take him around and see if they can find the couple. Once they are reunited, the daughter thanks Akari for finding her father.
- 娘:
- 「迷子になった父の相手をするの大変でしたでしょ？」
- “It must have been tough dealing with my dad when he got lost, right?”
- Literal: “It must have been hard being the companion for my father after he got lost, right?”
- 「本当ガンコおやじで…」
- “He really is a stubborn old man...”
- “It must have been tough dealing with my dad when he got lost, right?”
- 父さん:
- 「迷子と言うなっ」
- “Don't say lost!”
- 「うるさい」
- “Annoying...”
- “Don't say lost!”
Key Points
- In this scene, 相手をする means Akari had to look after the father and stay with him.
- It is more than just “opponent” or “partner”; the expression means taking on someone as the person you are occupied with.
- 迷子になった父の 相手をする means “to deal with the father who got lost”.
- The clause before の describes which father she is talking about.
- 大変でしたでしょ？ means “that was tough, right?”
- The daughter assumes the effort was obvious and asks for confirmation sympathetically.
Vocabulary
大変 (Serious)
大変 means serious, terrible, or difficult, and it is also widely used as an adverb meaning “very.” As a noun or adjective-like expression, it often describes a situation that has changed for the worse and become hard to handle. The underlying idea is that things have changed in a big way from the ordinary state.
迷子 (Lost child)
迷子 means a lost child or a person who has lost their way. It is the straightforward everyday sense of being unable to find the route back.
相手 (Partner)
相手 refers to the object of an action or the person with whom one acts. Depending on the context, it can refer to a wide range of people, such as a conversation partner, an opponent in a competition or negotiation, or a romantic or marital partner.
See Also
- External: Past tense with 〜た・〜だ
- Grammar: Marking the direct object with を
- Grammar: Quoting and reporting with と and って
- Kanji: Hands and skill with 手