Japanese with Manga

Practicing to skip the dishes with 〜っけ

Grammar Explanation: Remembering with 〜っけ

Qifrey stands in the kitchen smiling, holding up a small glass ornament as water bursts out of it in a swirling spray. Coco is partly visible at the right edge.
とんがり帽子のアトリエ » Volume 2 » Page 84

Coco has been worrying that she’s falling behind in her magic studies. While they cook in the kitchen, Qifrey tells her that water magic was the first kind he got good at, partly because he hated getting wet.

キーフリー:
「よく洗(あら)いものをサボるためにたくさん練習(れんしゅう)したっけなぁ」
“I used to practice like crazy so I could get out of doing the dishes.”

Key Points

1Looking back with したっけ
  • 〜たっけ without a question looks back on the past. 練習(れんしゅう)したっけ is “I used to practice” or “I remember practicing.”
  • Qifrey isn’t checking a fact with Coco. Only he could know the answer, so the line is a memory he’s sharing, not a question.
  • With よく, the memory is of a habit, and English “used to” fits well.
2なぁ after っけ
  • なぁ is a drawn-out な, the sentence-ending particle for talking half to yourself. After っけ, it gives the line a nostalgic, musing feel: “I sure did practice a lot back then.”
  • The small ぁ is a casual way of writing the lengthened sound.
3Practicing for a goal with サボるために
  • 〜ために after a plain verb gives the purpose of the action: サボるために練習(れんしゅう)した, “practiced so I could skip.”
  • The goal is a lazy one. He worked hard at water magic so the spell could do the washing up for him, which is the joke of the line.
4サボる
  • サボる means to skip work or slack off. It’s a verb made from サボ, short for the French loanword サボタージュ (sabotage), with る added, so it’s written in katakana.
  • It conjugates like a godan verb, so its forms include サボらない and サボった.
5洗(あら)いもの
  • 洗(あら)いもの (also written 洗(あら)い物(もの)) means things to be washed, or the job of washing them. In a kitchen it means the dishes.

Vocabulary

(Often)

よく means something happens often. It also means “well” or “skillfully”. Before 〜ね, it can show admiration or surprise.

(Dishes)

洗(あら)いもの means the things that need washing, usually dishes, or the chore of washing them. It is also written 洗(あら)い物(もの).

(To slack off)

サボる means to skip work, class, or a duty, or to slack off when you should be working. It comes from サボ, short for サボタージュ (sabotage).

(A lot)

たくさん describes a large amount or number of something.

(Practice)

練習(れんしゅう) means practice or rehearsal done to improve a skill or performance.

See Also

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