Japanese with Manga

Making sure not to be found out with 〜ないようにする

Grammar Explanation: Making an effort to with 〜ようにする

Nishikata glances over his shoulder as he quietly lifts the covers to climb into bed. A large そろ～っ sound effect shows him creeping, and his line is in a thought bubble.
からかい上手の（元）高木さん » Volume 12 » Page 55

Nishikata is sleepy on his day off, but Chii keeps begging him to play. Takagi suggests hide-and-seek, and Nishikata agrees on the condition that Chii is the seeker. Once the game starts, he grins to himself that this is easy. He can sleep while he hides, under the covers of his bed.

西片(にしかた):
「音(おと)とかでバレないようにしなきゃな。」
“I've gotta make sure I don't give myself away with noise or anything.”

Key Points

1バレないようにする, making sure not to be found out
  • 〜ないようにする means taking care that something does not happen. Nishikata isn’t promising to do one specific thing. He’s committing to an outcome: not getting found.
  • バレる means a secret or hiding place comes to light. Here the thing that might come to light is Nishikata himself, so バレない is “I don’t get found out”.
  • The sound effect そろ～っ shows how he goes about it. He moves slowly and quietly as he slips under the covers.
2しなきゃ, “I have to”
  • しなきゃ is a casual contraction of しなければ, short for しなければならない, “have to do”. The ending after なきゃ is usually dropped in speech.
  • Together, ないようにしなきゃ means “I have to make sure I don’t…”. People often say it when reminding themselves to be careful.
  • The sentence-final な marks this as Nishikata talking to himself, which the thought bubble confirms.
3音(おと)とかで, by noise or anything like that
  • とか gives 音(おと) as one example among similar things. It keeps the worry vague: noise, or anything else that might give him away.
  • で marks what would give him away. Noise is how Chii might find him.

Vocabulary

(Sound)

音(おと) is a sound. In music, it also means a note.

(To be found out)

バレる is for a secret or a lie to come to light.

(Way)

よう follows a word to show a way or manner, or that something seems a certain way. ようになる means to reach a point where something happens. It is also written 様(よう).

(To do)

する is to do or perform something. It also turns many nouns into verbs, as in 勉強する.

See Also

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