Psychic power in gym class with 超能力

Kanji Explanation: Ability and capability with 能

Nishikata and Takagi compete to see who can score higher on the long jump in physical education class. When Nishika lands his jump, he’s a bit shaky. He watches as the spectating Takagi sweeps her arms as if to knock him over, and he falls back, lowering his score. Takagi gives her condolences afterward.

西片(にしかた):: 「高木(たかぎ)さんて…もしかして、超能力(ちょうのうりょく)使(つか)えるの？」; “Takagi... could it be... you have psychic powers?”; Literal: “Takagi-san... by any chance, can you use psychic powers?”

Key Points

1超能力(ちょうのうりょく) = “supernatural ability” or “psychic power”

超(ちょう) adds the idea of “super-“ and 能力(のうりょく) means ability or power.

2〜て after a name adds a spoken topic feel

「高木(たかぎ)さんて…」 is a casual way to bring up Takagi as the topic.
It sounds like “Takagi… say, are you maybe…?”

さん is an honorific suffix attached to a person’s name to show respect and social distance, roughly equivalent to “Mr.”, “Ms.”, or “Mrs.” in English, though it’s used far more broadly and doesn’t specify gender or marital status.

Vocabulary

超能力 (Psychic power)

超能力(ちょうのうりょく) refers to special abilities that allow people to do things normal humans cannot. The term describes supernatural phenomena that cannot be rationally explained by modern science.